Walter Thompson Cox Jr. (September 19, 1918 – June 28, 2006) was an American university administrator and coach who served as the 10th President of Clemson University.

Early life and education

Cox was born in 1918 in

Belton, South Carolina Belton is a city in eastern Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,134 at the 2010 census. History In 1845 a group was created to connect the Piedmont region of South Carolina by rail to the existing rail system wh ...

, about from Clemson. He enrolled at Clemson in 1935, and played

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on the football team. Upon graduating in 1939 with a degree in general science, Cox was convinced by coach

Jess Neely Jesse Claiborne Neely (January 4, 1898 – April 9, 1983) was an American football player and a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University (now Rhodes College) from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University f ...

to return to graduate school and play one more year of football.

Career

Following the season, coach Neely left Clemson for Rice, and Cox considered taking an assistant position there. Ultimately, incoming coach Frank Howard offered Cox a position as assistant coach and athletics business manager. After serving in the United States Army in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II in 1942 & 1943, Cox returned to Clemson, working with the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps training program before resuming his previous position in the athletic department. Cox served as head baseball coach in 1945 and from 1948 to 1951, notching a career record of 70–48–1 and leading the team to a Southern Conference regular season championship in 1951. In 1951, president Robert Franklin Poole moved Cox to a new position as assistant to the president and director of alumni affairs. Following a 1955 re-organization, he was promoted to Dean (later known as vice-president) of student affairs. As dean, Cox was the administration's liaison to the students during the school's transition from an all-male military college to a co-ed university in 1955, and through the peaceful integration of the school in 1963.

President of Clemson

In the 1980s, fallout from football recruiting and

steroid scandal In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports. The term ''doping'' is widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use of ...

s led to the resignation of president Bill Lee Atchley. Cox was named interim president by the board of trustees, effective July 1, 1985. His first actions as president were to officially place Atchely on sabbatical, and to remove Bill McLellan from his position as athletic director, in reaction to the athletic scandals. During Cox's presidency, the university broke ground on the

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Caro ...

Institute, conferred an honorary doctorate on

Harvey Gantt Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina. The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated wi ...

, and implemented a plan to transfer a portion of athletic ticket revenue to academic scholarships. Cox was replaced with Max Lennon on March 1, 1986. He remained as assistant to the president, and retired the following year. He died in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

, on June 28, 2006.

Family

Cox's son,

Walter T. Cox III Walter T. Cox III (born August 13, 1942) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces from 1984 to 1999. Walter Thompson Cox III was born on August 13, 1942, in Anderson, South Car ...

, served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Walter Thompson II 1918 births 2006 deaths Clemson Tigers football players Clemson Tigers football coaches Clemson Tigers baseball coaches Presidents of Clemson University People from Anderson County, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina Military personnel from South Carolina United States Army personnel of World War II