Dr. Edward Leo Cochran Jr.

Dr. Edward (Ed) Leo Cochran, Jr.-scientist, public servant, and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather-died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, November 16, 2025. Dr. Cochran was a faithful servant of Christ and longtime member of St. Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville. Throughout his life, his natural curiosity and a keen mind drove him to solve vexing challenges in physical chemistry and public policy, where he worked on behalf of public education, ethics, equality, and good government.

Born on March 18, 1929, in Jarrettsville, Harford County, he graduated from Loyola College in 1949 at age 20, earned his Masters at Duquesne, and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame (1952). At Notre Dame he met his wife Catherine Joan Flanagan, a graduate student at nearby St. Mary's College. They married and moved to Howard County in 1958 when Ed began his research at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Ed and Joan were married for more than 62 years until her passing in 2015. They made their home at "Holly Hill," an 1850s farmhouse on ten acres in Clarksville.

Dr. Cochran focused his research at APL on chemical kinetics, particularly the study of free radicals. With colleagues, Ed published 35 scientific papers and spoke at universities in the U.S. and Europe, even traveling to Russia during the Cold War.

Ed was appointed to the Howard County Board of Education in 1964, where he quickly worked with local civil rights leaders to integrate the public schools. While on the Board, Ed also helped found the Howard Community College, later serving on its Board of Trustees from 1985 to 1991.

Ed was elected to the Howard County Council from 1968-1974 , where he modernized county laws, including creating a Human Relations Commission to extend equality beyond education. He helped create a Zoning Board, and sponsored the county's first no smoking and sign laws.

In 1974, voters elected him Howard County Executive. His administration formed the agencies for Citizen Services, Aging, and Consumer Affairs. He also introduced an act establishing the Office of Human Rights.

After his term as County Executive, Ed continued serving on boards for the Howard Community College, the Columbia Foundation, Howard County Parks, the Board of Appeals, and the Rotary Club of Columbia Town Center. He especially enjoyed serving as a weekly volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels.

Ed was dedicated to the hard work of solving problems. His Catholic faith and his belief in scientific methods were complementary comforts that informed his life's work in laboratories and council chambers, around kitchen tables and even in small planes over the Chesapeake Bay.

Dr. Cochran is survived by his brother, Donald; and by his six children, Edward L. Cochran III (Andrea), William Cochran (Teresa), Mark Cochran (Deirdre), Mary Catherine Cochran, Courtney Watson (Richard), and Christopher Cochran (Laura), 23 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Dr. Edward Cochran, Jr.