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Originally from Yorkshire in the north of England, Dr. Rooke was educated at Nottingham Trent University in applied chemistry, graduating in 1991. He then moved to Kansas State University to begin his graduate studies in carbon fiber spectroscopy, earning his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1996. He served as assistant and later associate professor of chemistry at the University of Hartford from 1996 to 2003. He then moved to Long Island University as Educational Technology Director and, later, Information Technology Director for three campuses.
Dr. Rooke joined Manchester Connecticut Community College in 2006 as director of the Business & Technology division and then served as Dean of Academic Affairs at Tunxis Community College from 2009 to 2015.
Dr. Rooke was appointed President of Northwestern Connecticut Community College (now CT State's Northwestern campus) by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education in October 2015.
From May 2020 to January 2021, Dr. Rooke served as interim provost and vice-president of CT State Community College, as well as continuing to serve as president of Northwestern CT Community College. In 2021 President Rooke served as interim president of Connecticut State Community College as well as continuing to serve as president of Northwestern. He returned to Northwestern full-time upon the hiring of the permanent CT State president.
