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A six-story structure housing labs, lecture rooms, computer facilities and offices, Cox Hall honors a pioneer in statistics and the first woman to be both full professor and department head at NC State, Gertrude Mary Cox (1900-1978).

Cox, an Iowa native who lived near Racoon River, earned her mathematics degree at Iowa State, and she became the first woman to earn an MS in statistics from Ames. In 1940, UNC President Frank Graham engaged her to establish a Department of Experimental Statistics at NC State in the school of Agriculture. As head, her leadership caused the department to acquire an international reputation, attracting students to the program from abroad. She also assisted UNC-CH and NC State in the development of the Institute of Statistics in 1944 and became its director. Cox was granted an honorary doctorate from Iowa State in 1958 as part of its centennial celebration. She is remembered for her fundamental role in the recognition of women in academics.