Richard J. Fox
Richard J. Fox was born in Philadelphia and graduated Central High School. He enlisted in the Naval Aviation V-5 Pilot Training Program and was sent to Georgia Institute of Technology as an aviation cadet. World War II ended, the Program was phased down, and instead he returned to Georgia Tech to earn his bachelor of science degree, as well as apply for and receive a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve Supply Corps.
During the Korean War he was called to active duty and served on the USS Missouri and a destroyer escort. Released from active duty in 1952, he and his brother, Bob, founded the Fox Companies, which became one of the major building, development, and real estate management companies in Greater Philadelphia.
Today, he continues as its chairman. The Fox team has constructed office buildings, shopping centers, thousands of homes and apartment units, including Chesterbrook, the most comprehensively planned residential community in Pennsylvania, the Wachovia Center, and TV studios for Comcast SportsNet.
Mr. Fox also is chairman of Planalytics, Inc., a technology company that links strategic marketing and sales management using unique data analysis technologies and client solution teams. Over the years, Dick has been active in government, business, community and political affairs, and is a founder and presently honorary chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition and chair of the Jewish Policy Center. He served as Pennsylvania chair of the 1980 Reagan–Bush presidential campaign. He has served as president of the Pennsylvania Builders Association and chair of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, and as president and chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and board chair of MossRehab.
As a Temple University trustee for 37 years, 17 of which he was chairman of the board, he developed a special interest in health sciences research. In 1999, Temple named the business school The Richard J. Fox School of Business and Management. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1996. While remaining a Temple trustee, he chairs the Boards Development Committee and also serves as chair of The Fox School of Business Board of Visitors. Dick and his wife of 54 years, Geraldine Dietz Fox, reside in Narberth, Pennsylvania. They have five children and six grandchildren.