Marye Anne Fox Papers, 1969 - 2011 (MSS 764)

Marye Anne Payne Fox was born December 9, 1947 in Canton, Ohio to Charles and Lucille Payne. She earned a B.S. in chemistry at Notre Dame College in 1969, an M.S. at Cleveland State University in 1970, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College in 1974, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland. Joining the faculty at the University of Texas as assistant professor of organic chemistry in 1976, she went on to become Rowland Pettit Centennial Professor, director of the Center for Fast Kinetics Research, Waggoner Regents Chair in chemistry, and vice president for research at the university. From 1998-2004, she served as chancellor and distinguished professor at North Carolina State University, and in 2004, she accepted the positions of chancellor and distinguished professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego. Fox was the first permanent female chancellor at both North Carolina State University and at UC San Diego.

Fox is known for her research in physical organic chemistry, particularly in the fields of photochemistry and electrochemistry. She has been a Sloan Foundation fellow and a recipient of both the Garvan Medal and the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award for outstanding public service from the American Chemical Society. Fox was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1994, the American Philosophical Society in 1996, and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2009. She has served on the National Science Board, the U.S. Committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She holds three patents related to her research, and has coauthored textbooks on organic chemistry with her husband, James K. Whitesell. Marye Anne Fox stepped down as chancellor of UC San Diego in 2012, returning to research and teaching.