In Memoriam: Mary Anne Fox, 1947-2021

Marye Anne Fox, former chancellor of North Carolina State Univerity and former chancellor at the University of California, San Diego, died on May 9 at her home in Austin, Texas, after a long illness. She was 73 years old.

A native of Canton, Ohio, Dr. Fox was a graduate of Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. She earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. After conducting postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland, Dr. Fox joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor in 1976. She was promoted to the rank of full professor in 1985 and also served as director of the Center for Fast Kinetics Research. In 1994, she became the university’s first vice president for research.

In 1998, Dr, Fox was appointed chancellor of North Carolina State University in Raleigh. In 2004, she was appointed chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. She served in that role until 2012 and afterward returned to teaching and research. She also served in the board of trustees of Dartmouth College.

Dr. Fox was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and received the National Medal of Science from President Obama in 2010. She also served as president of the scientific research society Sigma Xi. Dr. Fox held three U.S. patents.