Marye Anne Fox
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Marye Anne 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.
A world-class researcher, Fox is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has served as 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.
She was appointed the 12th 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. During her tenure as Chancellor, she presided over a significant period of growth, both of the physical facilities of the campus and of the university's reputation. However her tenue at NCSU was also marked by controversy over academic freedom, pay raises for members of her administration and her firing of two prominent vice provosts that lead to the resignation of the provost and a formal censuring by the faculty. She was criticised for endorsing a policy of "academic exceptions" for student-athletes and for her dubious role in the protracted expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Fox was the only ACC president to vote against admitting Boston College to the league in June 2003, a decision critics saw as suspect given here role on the Notre Dame board of trustees. Ultimately her decision only delayed BC's entry by four months, though it cost the ACC an estimated $12 million in lost revenue from a 2004 championship game. In 2004, amid speculation on her future at NCSU, Fox stepped down as chancellor. In the same year, NCSU's Marye Anne Fox Science Teaching Laboratory, was dedicated in her honor.
Fox is well-connected within the U.S. Republican Party, having served as a science advisor to George W. Bush during his tenure as governor of Texas. She was on the short list of candidates to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in Bush's presidential administration.
External links
- Biography at UCSD Chancellor's Office website (http://www-chancellor.ucsd.edu/biography.html)