Brothers Jeremy and Jason Cox Named Mississippi College Young Alumni of the Year

Jeremy Cox Family

Mississippi College roots run deep for brothers Jeremy and Jason Cox, the Christian university’s young alumni of the year.

Both their parents and wives are Mississippi College graduates. Combined, the Cox brothers have seven daughters, and the chances are good that one or more of their kids will be future Choctaws.

Pursuing a doctorate in political science at the University of Mississippi, Jeremy Cox credits MC with playing a significant role in his life.

“As a university, MC gave me an exceptional academic foundation for both my career and for graduate study, both at Baylor and Ole Miss,” Jeremy Cox said.

After attending ceremonies marking the 50^th anniversary of the historic admission of James Meredith, the first African-American to enroll at Ole Miss, Cox reflected on the Baptist-affiliated university in Clinton that’s impacted the lives of many MC graduates since opening its doors in 1826.

“As a Christian institution, Mississippi College was instrumental in helping me to frame and articulate a Biblical worldview that continues to shape my life today,” says the Vicksburg native, a 1996 MC history graduate. “As a community, MC has been central to many of the most important relationships in my life, including friendships and my marriage.”

From 1998 until 2011, Jeremy and his wife, Kimberly (a 1996 MC graduate) lived overseas in the United Kingdom, France, Sudan and other countries. During this time, they also worked with a charitable organization providing humanitarian aid and development assistance in Africa and the Middle East. Kimberly is teaching first grade at the Oxford University School.

Jeremy Cox commends MC history professors like Ron Howard, Kirk Ford and Edward McMillan for “exerting a significant academic influence on me.”

Married in 1997, Jeremy and Kimberly Cox are the parents of three daughters, Shelby, 11, Darby, 9, and Emma, 5.

MC’s retired vice president for graduate studies, McMillan says both Cox brothers are excellent choices for the honor to be presented at the 2012 Homecoming. Both were very conscientious and outstanding students who were acknowledged leaders on the Clinton campus, he said.

“They come from a great family,” says retired Mississippi College administrator Doc Quick of Clinton. “They are good young men.”

Their father, Larry Cox, works for Chick-fil-A at the restaurant’s national headquarters in Atlanta.

Jason Cox was thrilled to learn about the award. “I’m deeply humbled to be recognized in this way. The four years I spent at MC were the most formative and memorable of my life.”

Looking back, Jason rates math professor Melinda Gann among his favorite MC teachers. “She made sense of calculus for me, so, basically, she was a miracle worker!”

A 1995 MC graduate with an international MBA from the University of Memphis, Jason Cox worked at WorldCom in Clinton from 1998 to 2002. He and his wife, Kelli, a 1996 MC graduate, have lived and worked in the Middle East since 2003. They’re the parents of four daughters, Abigail, 13, Madelyn, 11, Naomi, 6, and Anabelle, 18 months.

Jason Cox is unable to attend the 2012 Homecoming activities, but his brother, Jeremy, should represent him quite well during the October 26 alumni awards dinner in Anderson Hall. “Regardless of what he says, I turned out OK and Mississippi College played a huge role in that.”