Gertrude Mary Cox Papers 1918-1999

Gertrude Mary Cox was born in Dayton, Iowa in 1900. She received a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.S. in statistics, from Iowa State College in 1929 and 1931 respectively, and then enrolled in a doctoral program in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. After two years in California, she was persuaded to return to Iowa to continue her work in statistics. From 1933 to 1940, Cox taught at Iowa State before Leaving for N.C. State College, where she remained until 1960. From 1940 - 1949 she served as head of the Department of Experimental Statistics. In 1949, Cox left this position to administer the North Carolina Institute of Statistics. She is most noted for her role in the 1959 founding of the Research Triangle Institute, where she held the position of Director, Statistics Research Division until 1964. She was also active as a consultant, working with universities in Thailand and Egypt. Cox received numerous awards, including an honorary Doctorate of Science in statistics from Iowa State College in 1958, and membership in the National Academy of Science. In 1949 she became the first woman elected into the International Statistical Institute. In 1956 she was elected President of the American Statistical Association. She was also named a Fellow in the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. She died in 1978.

The Gertrude Mary Cox Papers consists of correspondence, diaries, photographs, speeches, articles, diplomas, certificates, newspaper clippings, and other materials relating to her career in statistics, her consulting work, travel, honors received, and the Cox Fellowship which was created in her honor at North Carolina State University. Her writings relate statistics to various subjects, including education, agriculture, nutrition, experimental design, biometrics, horticulture, home economics, and international research.

This collection is divided into five series:

• 1. Correspondence,
• 2. North Carolina State University Papers,
• 3. Organizations/Consulting Papers,
• 4. Personal Papers,
• 5. Speeches/Papers/Publications.

North Carolina State University does not own copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

[Identification of Item], Gertrude Mary Cox Papers, MC 117, Special Collections Research Center, NC State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.

• North Carolina State University, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Department of Statistics Records (UA 135.016)
• North Carolina State University, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Institute of Statistics Records (UA 135.041)
• North Carolina State University, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Office of the Dean Records (UA 135.001)
• Larry A. Nelson Papers (MC 00612)
• Gertrude Cox Letters to Julie McVay (MSS 00418)

Gift of Francis McVey, 1978 (Accession 1978.0017), the North Carolina State University Department of Statistics, 1980 (Accession 1980.0012), David M. Mason, 1983 (Accession 1983.0009 and Accession 1983.0010), R. L. Anderson, 2002 (2002.0001), and Ruth Hutchison, 2010 (2010.0215).