Marye Anne Fox

Marye Anne Payne Fox (born 9 December 1947) is a physical organic chemist and university administrator. She was the first female chief executive of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In April 2004, Fox was named Chancellor of the University of California San Diego. In 2010 Fox received the National Medal of Science.

Marye Anne Payne Fox
Seventh Chancellor of the University of California San Diego[1]
In office 2004–2012
Preceded by	Robert C. Dynes
Succeeded by	Pradeep Khosla
Twelfth Chancellor of North Carolina State University
In office August 1998 – June 2004
Preceded by	Larry K. Monteith
Succeeded by	Robert A. Barnhardt
Personal details
Born	9 December 1947 Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Spouse(s)	James K. Whitesell
Residence	San Diego, California
Alma mater	Notre Dame College Cleveland State University Dartmouth College
Profession	Chemist, administrator
Institutions	University of Texas at Austin North Carolina State University University of Notre Dame U.C. San Diego

Biography

Early years

Fox was born in Canton, Ohio and received her B.S. from Notre Dame College and her Ph.D. from Dartmouth College, both in chemistry. She held a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland from 1974 to 1976. In the later year, she joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1994 she became vice president of research there.

Career

Fox is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has served as president of the scientific research society Sigma Xi. Fox earned a B.S. in chemistry from Notre Dame College in 1969 and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College in 1974. In 1976 she joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where she rose to direct the Center for Fast Kinetics Research and, in 1994, was appointed the university's Vice President for Research. Even as a university administrator, she maintained an active research program in the fields of organic photochemistry and electrochemistry. In 1985, Fox was the first woman to give a plenary lecture at the National Organic Symposium.[2]

She was appointed the twelfth chancellor of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina in August 1998, succeeding Dr. Larry K. Monteith. She was the university's first female chief executive, serving until July 2004.[3] During her tenure as Chancellor, the UNC system and its Board of Governors successfully campaigned for a taxpayer-funded bond referendum leading to a significant period of growth of the physical facilities of the campus, particularly Centennial Campus.[4] Her tenure was also marked by controversy over excessive pay raises for members of her administration and the firing of two prominent vice provosts that led to the resignation of the provost and a formal censuring by the NC State Faculty Senate.[5]

In June 2003, Fox played a role in the expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Reached in Switzerland at a conference, she cast an unexpected and deciding "no" vote against Boston College in the first round of Atlantic Coast Conference expansion.[6] Her unanticipated vote at the 11th hour resulted in months of turmoil in college sports. Miami President Donna Shalala delayed her university's acceptance of the ACC invitation to the last possible day explaining "We had numbers on Boston College-Virginia Tech. We had done numbers on Miami alone. But we had not anticipated that Virginia Tech and Miami would be the only two invitees."[7] The ensuing delay forced the ACC to spend the 2004-5 academic year as an 11-team conference, one shy of the dozen required by the NCAA for the ACC to hold a lucrative championship football game, and resulted in Boston College playing a "lame duck" year in the Big East.[8] Media reports suggested Chancellor Fox, a University of Notre Dame trustee, may have cast her vote against Boston College to provide time for the ACC to consider extending membership to the Fighting Irish.[9]

In 2004, Fox accepted the position of Chancellor at the University of California San Diego. In the same year, and in spite of the faculty's censure vote, the NCSU Board of Trustees named a building after her, the Marye Anne Fox Science Teaching Laboratory. On 5 July 2011, she announced her intention to resign as Chancellor, effective June 2012, and return to her research and teaching.[10]

Fox served as a science advisor to George W. Bush during his tenure as governor of Texas. She also served on President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and was on the short list of candidates to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in Bush's presidential administration.

Fox served as a trustee on the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College from 2011 to 2013.[11]

Personal life

Fox is married to chemistry professor James K. Whitesell, with whom she has five sons from their previous marriages.

Awards

• Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award (1984), Iota Sigma Pi
• Garvan-Olin Medal (1988)
• Havinga Medal (1991), first woman recipient[12]
• Myron L. Bender and Muriel S. Bender Summer Lectureship, Northwestern University (1994)
• Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, American Chemical Society, (2005)[13]
• National Medal of Science (2010)[14][15]
• Othmer Gold Medal (2012)[16][17][18]
• Revelle Medal (2018)

References

1. "Marye Anne Fox". University of California San Diego. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
2. Fenlon, Edward E.; Myers, Brian J. (30 May 2013). "Profiles in Chemistry: A Historical Perspective on the National Organic Symposium". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 78 (12): 5817–5831. doi:10.1021/jo302475j. PMID 23721508.
3. Historical State: History in Red and White. "Marye Anne Fox becomes the first female chancellor at NC State (1998)". Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
4. Historical State: History in Red and White. "Marye Anne Fox: Twelfth Chief Executive, 1998-2004". Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
5. Historical State: History in Red and White. "Michael David Anthony". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
6. Vilona, Bill (13 October 2003). "Boston College accepts invite from ACC". Buckeye Buzz. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
7. Svrluga, Barry (27 June 2003). "Miami on hold". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
8. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
9. "WNDU-TV: Sports Story: Is ND heading for a change in conference statu…". wndu.com. 22 December 2003. Archived from the original on 22 December 2003.
10. Day, Kathy (14 October 2011). "Committee named to assist in search to replace UCSD chancellor". La Jolla Light. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
11. "Trustees Emeriti". Dartmouth College. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
12. "Havinga Medal Laureates". Havinga Foundation.org. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
13. Rovner, Sophie L. (5 April 2004). "PARSONS AWARD TO MARYE ANNE FOX ACS honors North Carolina State chancellor for outstanding service". Chemical & Engineering News. 82 (14): 16. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
14. Clark, Christine. "White House Names UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox National Medal of Science Recipient" (Press release). UC San Diego. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
15. "Marye Anne Fox". The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details. National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
16. "Othmer Gold Medal". Science History Institute. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
17. "Alumna to Receive Othmer Gold Medal". Notre Dame College. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
18. Gussman, Neil (30 January 2013). "Marye Anne Fox to Receive Othmer Gold Medal at Heritage Day 2012". The Business Journals. Retrieved 12 June 2014.

External links

• Marye Anne Fox Papers MSS 764. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
• UC San Diego. Office of the Chancellor Subject Files RSS 1. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.