Emeritus Professor of English and Former Interim Dean of the College Passes Away

Robert Sturgeon Cox, Jr. | May 19, 1937 - May 6, 2011

Memorial services for Robert "Bob" Cox will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 22, in Morris Chapel.

A scholarship will be established in his name — The Robert Cox Scholarship Fund — and donations will be accepted for that scholarship, as well as the Haggin Museum or a charity of your choice in lieu of flowers. Donations to the scholarship can be mailed to the University designating "Robert Cox Scholarship Fund" or "IMO Bob Cox" on the memo line.

Bob Cox

Bob Cox, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of the Pacific died peacefully May 6 at Monaciano, a beautiful farm in Tuscany near Siena. He was born in Amarillo, Texas and grew up in the Coachella Valley of California. Upon graduation from Northern Arizona University he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship to continue his studies at Indiana University in Bloomington where he completed a Ph.D. degree. He completed research for his doctoral dissertation at University College, London while a Fulbright Scholar. Returning from London in 1964, Bob began his teaching career at Rice University in Houston. In 1971 he accepted a teaching position in the English Department at the University of the Pacific and joyfully came home to California.

In 1984 he again was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and spent a year teaching at the University of Tromso, Norway.

Bob was dedicated to teaching and learning. During his career he received both the Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award and the Eberhardt Teacher/Scholar Award. He was also active in faculty and University governance. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of the Pacific. It is the highest award that can be conferred upon a retiring faculty member and recognizes someone who has made an outstanding contribution in teaching, scholarship and service to the University. 
After retiring as professor of English, Bob was appointed the founding director of the University's Center for Teaching Excellence. From June, 2006 to February, 2008 he served as interim dean of the College of the Pacific.

Bob Cox (left) with Lisa Tromovitch (Theatre Arts Professor) and Thomas Krise (Dean of the College) at Commencement in 2010.

Bob will be missed not only by colleagues and students at the University but also by friends he made through his many other interests. He shared a love for hiking, backpacking and skiing in the Sierras with friends in Stockton and at his cabin in Kirkwood. For many years he drove every weekend to work on the Kirkwood Ski Patrol. Early every Stockton morning he and running friends met for fitness runs or for marathon training. In 1984, he completed the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in under 24 hours. In the community, Bob served on the Stockton Arts Commission, the board of the San Joaquin Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 2009 he enhanced his lifelong love of gardening by completing training in the University of California Extension program to become a San Joaquin County Master Gardener.

Above all Bob was the center of his family. His encouragement, wisdom, strength and love will be missed by his wife Pat and their children, Anna and Robert Lutz of Carlsbad, Adam and Telma Cox of Pacific Grove, Joachim and Catherine Cox of Honolulu, and Jesse and Katie Cox of Aptos. He cherished each of his eleven grandchildren and was blessed with busy days in the mountains, at the ocean, and as well as quiet moments in the garden with them.