The Gwyneth Clifford Cox Early Childhood Education Award

Gwyneth Clifford Cox ’49 loved teaching young children, and she passed that love on to her own offspring, who have all worked in education. Robert Cox, who recently endowed an Academic Award in her memory, says Westfield State University kindled a passion that lasted a lifetime. “She loved it. She talked about it all the time,” Robert says of her days at what was then known as State Teachers College.

The Gwyneth Clifford Cox Early Childhood Education Award is given to a Westfield State University junior majoring in early childhood education who, like Gwyneth, has demonstrated a dedication to teaching young children. “She had a great love of young kids, and she just felt that she wanted to introduce them to education with the right attitude, and Westfield was where she could do it,” he says.

After teaching in Massachusetts, the two moved to Long Island, New York, where Gwyneth took a pause to raise four children. She returned to teaching in the 1970s, instructing kindergarteners for 20 years at the Bay Shore School District in Brightwaters, NY.

After his wife died in 2019, Robert Cox wanted to honor his wife’s career as a teacher beloved by her students, and the origins of her life’s path at her alma mater. “It was a fond experience, remembered her whole life,” said Cox. On the prospect of helping new students start that journey, he says simply, “I’m delighted. I like to give back.”