Patrick Cox
Patrick Cox, Ph.D., is Associate Director at the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin with administrative responsibilities for the Congressional History Collection, the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum in Bonham, the John Nance Garner Museum in Uvalde and historic preservation projects and programs at Winedale.
The First Texas News Barons, the latest publication by Dr. Cox, focuses on the independent Texas newspaper publishers and the creation of the modern Texas identity. The University of Texas Press published the book in November 2005.
Dr. Cox authored an award winning biography on the late U.S. Senator Ralph W. Yarborough published by the University of Texas Press. Ralph W. Yarborough: The People’s Senator was a finalist in the Western Writers Association book awards, the Robert Kennedy Foundation Book Award for 2002, and honorable mention at the Texas Philosophical Society annual book awards. He is co-editor of Profiles in Power: 20th Century Texans in Washington, D. C., published by the University of Texas Press in April 2004.
In 2005, the Sam Rayburn Library and Museum received a Save America’s Treasures grant as part of the first significant renovation in the facility’s fifty-year history. The Rayburn Museum also received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2005 and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Significant historical renovations and new exhibits are also underway at the Garner Museum and Winedale.
The author of numerous articles in academic journals, magazines, newspapers and the World Wide Web, Dr. Cox also has served as curator for exhibits on John Nance Garner, Sam Rayburn, Henry B. Gonzalez and the ExxonMobil Historic Archive. He served as the project director for the Texas House Speakers Oral History Program. He served as an historical advisor to the Bob Bullock State of Texas History Museum. He has also been a contributor to National Public Radio and documentaries aired on National Public Television and C-Span. He is a recipient of the C.K. Chamberlain Award from the East Texas Historical Association.
Dr. Cox serves on the Board of Directors of the American Journalism History Association. He also serves as contributing editor to the Digital Journalist and American Journalism publications. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and is a member of the Philosophical Society of Texas. Dr. Cox is an advisory board member for Austin College Center for Southwestern and Mexican Studies. He serves as an ex-officio board member of the Friends of John Nance Garner Museum and the Friends of Sam Rayburn. In Wimberley, he serves as President of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, chair of the Wimberley Lions Scholarship Committee and is a past president of the Wimberley Lions Club.
Dr. Cox received his doctorate in history and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his Master of Arts in History from Texas State University, formerly Southwest Texas State University.