Cooper Drury is the Dean of the College of Arts & Science and Professor in the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. He earned his BA and MA from Michigan State University and his PhD from Arizona State University.

Under his leadership as dean the college has seen meaningful growth, including the creation of several research institutes and research core facilities, new graduate and undergraduate degree programs, and initiatives to enhance faculty research and creative work across the college. Dean Drury has also represented MU to the Missouri Department of Higher Education and served on multiple campus- and system-level task forces. His other college-level leadership roles include interim dean, senior associate dean, and department chair.

As an academic his primary research and teaching interests focus on foreign policy. Specifically, he studies the causes, outcomes, and consequences of economic sanctions. Dean Drury has authored or co-authored two books, an award-winning textbook, and over two dozen articles and chapters. A committed teacher, Dean Drury has trained 25 doctoral students and has earned multiple teaching and mentorship awards.

A leader in his field, Dean Drury served as editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Analysis, the 2016 International Studies Association program chair, earned the Foreign Policy Analysis Distinguished Scholar Award, Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award, and the Ladd Hollist Service Award.