DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Edwin L. Cox, Sr., a famend Dallas enterprise chief, entrepreneur, public servant, instructional pioneer and longtime SMU supporter and trustee emeritus died Thursday, Nov. 5 on the age of 99.
“Edwin Cox’s contributions to and enthusiasm for this College and the Cox Faculty of Enterprise are invaluable. He was an amazing presence and an inspiring affect for each one who crossed his path, and his work with and for his neighborhood has reached throughout generations and over nice distances,” stated SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “He’ll stay an instance of tireless drive, selfless spirit and boundless power to the scholars of Cox and of SMU for generations to return. He’s missed, not solely due to his dedication to make the Cox Faculty a globally acknowledged establishment, but additionally due to his character and his unwavering dedication to the scholars of SMU and to the individuals of Dallas.”
Edwin L. Cox, Sr. (credit score: SMU)
Cox, who SMU stated remained energetic and engaged with household and associates up till his dying, was the chair and CEO of the Edwin L. Cox Firm, and the previous chair of Cox Oil & Fuel Inc., SEDCO Inc. and the Keebler Firm.
SMU’s Edwin L. Cox Faculty of Enterprise was renamed in his honor in 1978 in recognition of his beneficiant assist for and repair to SMU for greater than 50 years.
Cox’s management and involvement helped elevate the standard of Cox faculty college students, school, applications and relationships among the many Dallas enterprise neighborhood.
Cox was a long-standing member of the Cox Govt Board and based the Cox Distinguished M.B.A. Students Program, the Enterprise Management Heart for graduate college students and the Edwin L. Cox BBA Management Institute for undergraduates. In 2007, Cox supplied a problem to determine the Edwin L. Cox BBA Students Program, which supplies merit-based undergraduate scholarships.
In 2020, Cox was named the inaugural recipient of the Cox Faculty of Enterprise’ highest honor, the Cox Visionary Award. Fittingly named so throughout the faculty’s centennial 12 months, Cox epitomized the aim of the award: to acknowledge extraordinary contributions to the enterprise neighborhood and exemplary management of the very best caliber.
Edwin L. Cox, Sr. (credit score: SMU)
“Ed Cox was one of many first individuals I met once I got here to campus to interview for my present place,” stated Matthew B. Myers, dean, Cox Faculty of Enterprise and Tolleson Chair in Enterprise Management. “Heat, dignity and positivity emanated from him. His presence satisfied me that I wished to maneuver to Dallas and wished to work with him to take the Cox Faculty to even higher heights. Ed Cox epitomized the can-do spirit that defines the Cox Faculty, SMU and Dallas.” Myers grew to become the ninth dean of the Cox Faculty in 2017.
Cox served as an honorary chair of SMU’s Second Century Marketing campaign Steering Committee throughout SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Marketing campaign that concluded in 2015 after elevating $1.15 billion. He was named a trustee emeritus in 1991, after service as a vice chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees from 1973 to 1976 and chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees from 1976 to 1987. He served on the College’s Board of Governors from 1969–1987, together with a time period as chair in 1974–76; and as chair of the nationwide steering committee for SMU’s Design for the Third Era capital marketing campaign from 1975 to 1983. He additionally served on the Cox Faculty of Enterprise Capital Marketing campaign Committee, the Maguire Power Institute Advisory Board, the Meadows Faculty of the Arts govt board and on the SMU Basis for Enterprise Administration.
“Ed’s influence on SMU, and significantly on the Cox Faculty of Enterprise, can’t be overstated,” stated Brad Cheves, vp for Growth and Exterior Affairs. “His imaginative and prescient and assist for educating future enterprise leaders can be felt for generations. We’re so grateful that he gifted SMU along with his management, dedication and integrity. He was a mannequin businessman, household man and member of the neighborhood. It is a large loss, and whereas we honor his life, we additionally bear in mind how fortunate we’re that we might name him a Mustang.”
Cox attended SMU’s Faculty of Commerce from 1938–40. At SMU, he was a member of the Mustang band. He was additionally a member of Phi Delta Theta, Alpha Kappa Psi and Alpha Phi Omega.
In 1942, he graduated from the College of Texas with a BBA diploma. He additionally earned industrial administration and M.B.A. levels from Harvard College in 1943 and 1946, respectively. He served within the U.S. Naval Reserve throughout World Struggle II, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
Cox was honored with the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award in 1974. He additionally obtained the SMU Volunteer of the Yr Award in 1985 and The Mustang Award in recognition of excellent philanthropy in 1996.
Myers’ predecessor, Al Niemi, retired as the college’s eighth dean in 2017. Throughout his 20-year tenure as dean, Niemi labored intently with Ed Cox shaping the college’s future. “Ed Cox was a visionary, and he was obsessed with steady enchancment,” Niemi stated. “Together with his assist, we have been in a position to deal with elevating pupil high quality in all of our applications and offering management coaching throughout our curriculum.”
Cox’s company board service included CoreComm Ltd., Dr. Pepper, the East Texas Salt Water Disposal Firm, Gillette firm, FiNet Holdings, Halliburton Firm, InterFirst Corp., LTV Aerospace Corp., Southwestern Life Insurance coverage Firm and Ladies First Healthcare, Inc. He served as a director or member of the American Enterprise Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Unbiased Petroleum Affiliation of America, Dallas Wildcat Committee, Texas Unbiased Producers Royalty House owners Affiliation, Nationwide Petroleum Council, Texas Power Advisory Council and the Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Fuel Affiliation.
In 1990, Cox was inducted into the Texas Enterprise Corridor of Fame, and obtained the John Rogers Award from the Institute for Power Legislation in 1985.
He was the founder, president and trustee of the Ed Cox Basis, which made a present to the Library of Congress in 2007 to determine the Edwin L. Cox American Legacy Endowment. He was additionally a trustee of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Basis.
Cox served on the Dallas Museum of Artwork board of trustees, together with a time period as chairman. He was a previous president of the Dallas Residents Council, a member of the Youngsters’s Medical Heart of Dallas board of administrators and the Dallas Salvation Military advisory board, and a vice chairman of the Library of Congress James Madison Council. He was a lifetime honorary member of the board of trustees for the Nationwide Gallery of Artwork in Washington, D.C.
His extra civic service contains the American Pink Cross, Dallas Meeting, Dallas Society for Crippled Youngsters, Dallas Zoological Society, Hope Cottage Youngsters’s Bureau, Library of Congress Belief Fund, Presbyterian Hospital, Texas Most cancers Society, UT Most cancers Basis, UT Southwestern Medical Heart and the World Affairs Council.
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