Remembering Ethics Center Emeritus Advisory Board Member Michael E. Fox Sr.
With sadness we share the passing of Michael E. Fox Sr, emeritus member of the Ethics Center Advisory Board and contributor for over 30 years. Fox has served on many boards in the Bay Area community, including a chairmanship of Eastfield Ming Quong, and founded the very successful Santa Clara County Valley Medical Center Foundation with an initial gift. Today, this foundation serves many thousands of people. Together with his wife, Mary Ellen Fox, he was an early investor in the creation of the Ethics Center’s Government Ethics Program. Additionally, the Foxes helped launch the Ethical Campaign Initiative with its then popular Massive Open Online Course, “How to Run an Ethical Political Campaign—and Win!” as well as the Government Ethics Academy for local officials.
Former Ethics Center Executive Director, Kirk Hanson, shares his appreciation for Fox’s contribution to the work of the Center. "Mike Fox served Santa Clara University in so many ways. He was a generous and faithful advisor to the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, serving for more than a decade on the Center's Advisory Board. He was a special mentor to me personally during my 17 years as the Center's executive director.”
Hanson highlights the Foxes' role at the Center, and notes their devotion to the development of ethical work changed lives for decades in the Santa Clara community. “Mike and his wife Mary Ellen dedicated themselves actively throughout their lives to the election of ethical and effective government officials, and it was natural that they encouraged the Markkula Center to make political and government ethics a major part of its work. They made generous donations to make that focus possible and provided continuing counsel on how to address the most important questions in government ethics today. They are responsible for the Center's strong role in this critical field.”
Our condolences go out to the entire Fox family. We thank Mike for his many years of service with the Ethics Center and within the broader Santa Clara and Silicon Valley communities, and we strive to continue to build on his good work with the same dedication and drive that Fox brought to his many contributions.