Thomas C. Cox *80

Thomas Cox, associate professor emeritus of history at the University of Southern California Dornsife, died Dec. 9, 2011. He was 72.

Cox graduated from the University of Kansas in 1969, and in 1980 received a Ph.D. in history from Princeton. He taught at Middlebury College, and began at USC Dornsife in 1982 as an assistant professor of history. He became associate professor emeritus in 2008. He was a historian in African-American studies and American intellectual and social history.

His writings included two books. One was Blacks in Topeka, Kansas, 1865-1915: A Social History (1982). The other examined how governments helped Kansas residents in Fenceposts: The Plains Grasshopper Plague of 1874-1877 (2010).

Steven Ross *80, professor of history at USC Dornsife and Cox’s friend since their doctoral student days at Princeton, said, “Over the years, he made his greatest mark as a teacher. Tom was one of the best teachers of intellectual history I have ever worked with. His lectures were impeccable — and what made them so was that they were aimed at his students rather than at the profession.”

Cox is survived by Gerry Cox, his former wife of 30 years.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.