Profile in Giving
George Cox ’62 (AB) and ’66 (Med): A product of his environment
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| Medical students learn the art, as well as the science, of healing from expert and caring medical school professors and hospital clinicians. |
The best way to understand why George Cox ’62 (AB) and ’66 (Med) gives to Carolina is to hear it from the man himself.
“I just didn’t want to leave, I love Chapel Hill,” he says about earning two degrees here. He eventually did leave, finally landing in Atlanta. But his Carolina experience resonates to this day.
“It’s my greatest passion — how much the University has meant to me all my life. Medical school is usually known as a harsh environment, and a competitive one, but not at Carolina. It was a family environment. I felt totally supported and cared for.”
He credits his professors for that environment. “These were people who wanted me to succeed,” he said. “I think of my experience at UNC-Chapel Hill as meeting people who were my partners in education. For a major state university, that’s a tremendous thing. I have kept that feeling all this time.”
He continues to feel that warmth after many years away, especially when meeting other Carolina folk who share that devotion. “I meet people of a like mind,” he said. “Everyone I talk to loves it and wants to contribute back. Like all good friendships, you can be away 20 years, and it’s like 20 minutes when you get back together. And it’s like that with the University.
Cox is a generous multi-year donor and has performed many volunteer roles in support of Carolina: he was president of the Medical Alumni Association, served on the University’s Board of Visitors and the Executive Finance Committee of the Medical Foundation. He also led the Greater Atlanta Loyalty Fund Committee for many years, and still participates.
“When I was on the Board of Visitors, I learned about faculty retention, and how important it is, so I’m keen on that,” he said. He decided to target some of his giving toward a professorship in the Medical School. “I’d like to expand on that,” he said. “Faculty retention is more than salaries; it’s the total support of the person.”
During the Carolina First Campaign, Cox chaired the Medical Alumni Endowment Campaign. Together, this group has given more than $10 million, creating 51 new scholarships and four endowed teaching professorships. “When you have better professors, you’ll have better students, and when you have better students, you’ll have better professors,” he said. “It goes back and forth.”
Success breeds success. “A lot of my success at being a physician is directly a result of medical school at Chapel Hill, on being educated in that warmth and support. ... I want everyone to think about the University when they think about giving.”
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