Contact: Cathy DelliCarpini-Kruse (212) 481-9230
Contact: Bud Perrone (212) 843-8068
New York, May 23, 2001 – George A. Fox, retired Chairman and C.E.O. of Grow Tunneling Corp and past Chairman of The Cooper Union, died in Manhattan of complications due to cancer surgery, on Thursday, May 17, 2001. Mr. Fox, who lived in Manhattan, was 81 years old.
During his more than 50 year career, Mr. Fox played lead roles in the planning, design, and management of 70 major public works projects valued in excess of $61 billion. While millions of New York City's residents have benefited from his projects, few have ever seen Mr. Fox's work which mainly consists of elaborate underground tunneling.
His crowning achievement was his engineering and construction work for New York City's Third Water Tunnel – the largest capital construction project in the City's history and the largest tunneling project in North America. Widely hailed as a modern engineering marvel when the first stage was opened in 1998, construction of the 60-mile water tunnel some 600 feet below New York City commenced in 1970. Completion is expected in 2020.
In addition to his pioneering work in the development of the nation's infrastructure, Mr. Fox also has earned praise as an educator. He is a former Chairman of The Cooper Union, where he graduated in 1940. He also served as Chairman Emeritus of its Board of Trustees and Trustee of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Over the past decade, he taught a course for seniors there that focused on the realities of being a civil engineer.
In 1996, The Cooper Union honored him with its first "Builder of the City Award" for lifetime contributions to the construction of New York City infrastructure.
Mr. Fox also was active in numerous professional organizations, serving as President of the General Contractors Association of New York City (GCA) and President of the New York Building Congress in the 1980's. He remained active and held leadership positions in both organizations until his death.
"George Fox was always the strongest advocate for New York City's infrastructure, its rehabilitation and its extension," noted Francis X. McArdle, Managing Director of the GCA, an organization in which Mr. Fox was active for more than four decades. "He carried the case for the construction and completion of the Third Water Tunnel from its inception through the darkest days of the City's fiscal crisis to today's expectations for Stage Two's completion in the near future."
Added Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson, "George was a man of enormous vision and dignity. He inspired us all with his uncommon ability to bring together a diverse and often fragmented industry with his keen intellect and quiet determination. We celebrate his unsurpassed commitment to the construction field and the City of New York. George Fox left his mark on New York everywhere – from the vast subterranean tunnel structure beneath the City to the education of our youth and the highest standards of public service. All who knew him remember a unique New Yorker who cared and gave much more than he received."
A licensed Professional Engineer in New York and New Jersey, Mr. Fox was the first ever recipient in 1988 of the Roebling Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He also received the 1979 Moles Member Award for outstanding achievement in construction.
Mr. Fox was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the National Honorary Engineering Society, The Moles, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Underground Association. He is a former President and Chairman of WNYC Foundation, which supported and administered the municipally owned and operated public radio and TV stations in New York City. In World War II, he served for three years in the Civil Engineer Corps of the U.S. Navy.
Mr. Fox is survived by his wife, Cecily, his children Laurie, Andrew, Alice and Roger, and his three grandchildren.
The New York Building Congress is a membership coalition of business, labor, association and government organizations promoting the design, construction and real estate industry in New York City.
