Graduate School Alumni Fellow

Daniel J. Cox ’74, ’77

Dr. Daniel Cox was born into a lower-middle-class family and, despite being blind in one eye and legally blind in the other, excelled academically and athletically throughout his youth. Dr. Cox graduated from Xavier University, where he received the Frances I. Hamel Award for academic excellence and personal involvement in psychology. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Louisville and was again recognized with the Frances I. Hamel Award for academic excellence in graduate studies. Throughout both high school and graduate school, he maintained part-time employment and graduated debt-free.

Dr. Cox dedicated his 50-year career at the University of Virginia to the field of behavioral medicine, studying the complex relationship between behavior and chronic disease. He secured more than $40 million in federal and industry grant funding, primarily focused on diabetes research. His scholarly contributions include three patents, 257 scientific articles, 40 book chapters and two books. He currently serves as principal investigator on two NIH R01 grants and has submitted an additional grant application.

Although his clinical intervention research has been widely cited and replicated, Dr. Cox recognized that many evidence-based findings were not being translated into routine clinical practice. To help bridge that gap, he authored a self-help book designed to empower individuals with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes to manage their blood glucose using research-based strategies.

During his tenure at the University of Virginia, Dr. Cox founded and directed the Behavioral Medicine Center and the Virginia Driving Safety Laboratory, and developed the Center for Behavioral Medicine Research. He has served as a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University and the University of Greifswald and has lectured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

In 2025, Dr. Cox and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Together, they have four accomplished children and five grandchildren.