Meet Professor Cox: History of a History Professor
By Tenley Baxter
Southern Virginia University students are all required to take the core America and the Enlightenment class. Some of these lucky students have had the opportunity to appreciate the wisdom of Dr. David Cox, a history professor here at SVU.
Professor Cox grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C., where his father worked in foreign service. Most of his childhood was spent in D.C., with the exception of some time in Bangkok for his father’s work. He attended UVA as a history major and, after being bored by a history professor, developed an ongoing goal to glorify the ways that history can be interesting and immensely valuable.
“I’m hoping that in discovering our rich heritage through looking at history and government, our students can understand the treasures we inherit so that they can keep them thriving for the future.”
With that intention in mind, and after some time in divinity school studying Christianity and history, Cox applied to graduate schools and attended Yale. He eventually settled in Lexington, VA, where he participated on the City Council and enjoyed getting to know the people, the city, and its challenges. He has embraced the unique community, environment, and overall culture full-heartedly.
In 2006, the professor was teaching ethics at what is now Mountain Gateway College when our own Dr. Armstrong read a column Cox had written in a newspaper and suggested him as an option to hire. Not long after, Professor T.R. Porter offered him the opportunity to teach U.S. civilization at SVU. Dr. Cox expresses that “[working here] has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
Dr. Cox now teaches various courses on U.S. and religious history at SVU. In addition to America and the Enlightenment, he has led classes on the First Amendment, the presidency, race in America, and a survey of American religious history. He prefers religious history courses and considers his favorite to be America’s Founding Mothers & Fathers. The professor says that his favorite part of working at SVU has been the people he gets to be with: faculty, students, and administrators.
“I cannot adequately express how much I admire my colleagues on the faculty and the students who make it such fun!”
In addition to his teaching career, Dr. Cox has been very active in the Episcopal Church. He worked in Uganda twice and participated in the church’s international convention three times. He says that from his experience abroad, he learned that “we are not alone. We are exceptional but not perfect. There are things we can learn from others; even the poorest countries.” Above his success in academia and religion, Cox considers his greatest success to be his family. More than anything, he enjoys time spent with his grandchildren and the good relationships his family has.
To get to know the professor a little better, I asked a few personalized fun-fact-type questions…
If you had a bucket list, what might be on it? “I’d like to go back to England and Maine.”
What are your favorite things to do? “I love my garden, being with my grandkids and talking with young people.”
What historical characters would you most like to meet?
- Abraham Lincoln
- Thomas Jefferson
- Phillis Wheatley (a female African-American poet of the 18th Century)
Dr Cox’ unique background provides greater depth to his teaching. His ability to reach for personal experience and exceptional education gives students a clearer perspective of the value of our country’s history. Before I concluded my interview with him, I asked what advice he would most like to share with his students. He enthusiastically responded, “Do the reading!”. Having taken two of these classes, I second that recommendation, and also propose that students get to know Dr. Cox if they have the opportunity!
