Maurice Cox AR’83
(This article was originally published in 2009. It was updated in 2015)
Maurice Cox AR’83 is an educator and architect known for his groundbreaking use of design as a catalyst for social change in urban and rural communities. Upon graduating from The Cooper Union, Cox taught for six years at Syracuse University’s Italian Program in Florence, while working in partnership with architect Giovanna Galfione. Their practice won numerous national competitions and public building commissions for the city of Florence in association with renowned architect Aldo Rossi. He returned to the United States in 1993 to teach at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, where he was Associate Professor of Architecture. He would later be a professor of architecture at Tulane.
In 1996, Maurice Cox was elected to the City Council of Charlottesville, Virginia, and in 2002 he became Mayor. He co-founded the Charlottesville architectural practice RBGC Architecture Research and Urbanism (1996-2006), which focused on serving clients in communities underserved by the design professions.
Maurice Cox is the 2004-2005 recipient of the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. In 2007, Cox was appointed the National Endowment for the Arts’ Director of Design. In this position, he supervises the grant-making process in design and provides professional leadership to the field and national political leaders.
On Oct. 10, 2009, Maurice Cox spoke at the Future of Design conference at The University of Michigan. See video.
In March of 2015, Maurice Cox left Tulane University to be the Planning Director for the City of Detroit.
announcement in Crains- Inside Detroit
Maurice Cox received the 2004 CU President’s Citation and the 2006 CUAA John Q. Hejduk Award. He was inducted into The Cooper Union Hall of Fame in 2009.