Q&A: Retiring Headmaster of The Haverford School Joseph Cox

Last month,  Headmaster Joseph T. Cox, Ph.D., announced that he will retire on June 30, 2013, after serving 15 years at the all-boys private school.

Cox is the eighth headmaster in the school’s history and started his stead in 1998. But before he retires with his wife Kathy Stevenson to Lake Forest, Ill., Cox took a moment with Patch to share his thoughts on his long career as headmaster of the Main Line school and his pending retirement.

Patch: After nearly 15 years as headmaster of The Haverford School, why did you decide to retire in June of 2013?

Cox: At the end of next year I will have served Haverford for 15 years, a respectable tenure as a Headmaster in today's independent school world.  I am currently 65 and should make room for younger leaders.

Patch: Once you do retire, what are your plans? What are you looking forward to the most? 

Cox: My wife and I are both writers, she much more successfully published than I, but we will have more time to write and to travel.  We will live in Lake Forest, Ill.

Patch: After nearly 15 years, what are some of the rewarding moments you experienced as headmaster of The Haverford School?

Cox: The most rewarding moments are associated with the students: seeing young men grow intellectually and morally, seeing them take care of one another on playing fields and in the classrooms, watching them develop from a 4 year old to an adult who cares about giving back to his community.  Haverford creates in its graduates very strong bonds of friendship, and it is wonderful to see those relationships among the alumni I visit around the country.  I have also been inspired by outstanding and caring teachers who give so much to their students. 

Patch: And what were some of the hardships that you had to face?

Cox: It is always hard to be with our families when there is a loss.  I remember in particular two wonderful boys who died while at Haverford, one a cancer victim and one struck by a car.  To see such wonderful boys lost and to think of the potential of their lives gone were very difficult not only form me but also the entire community.

Patch: With education being ever changing, with new academic programs being created and new technology being introduced to both students and teachers, what type of changes do you see in classroom education in the coming years? 

Cox: We are educating our students for jobs that don't exist and for disciplines not yet invented, so we need to do a good job inspiring in our students life-long learning skills and creativity. We can't forget instilling in them the values needed to be contributing members of our society.  We want to graduate leaders of character who will give back. 

Patch: What do you see as your most important accomplishment as headmaster of The Haverford School?

Cox: I think the work the Board of Trustees and my administration did in revamping our compensation and teacher evaluation system is the most important change in the school during my leadership.  If it is broken in the classroom, the entire school is broken, and we have done (a lot) to pay our teachers appropriately and to make sure we have the best teachers we can hire.  We also support their professional development and reward them for all they do for our boys.  It is a merit pay system that has been adopted in independent schools around the world.

Patch: You have been with The Haverford School for so long, what type of funny moments or stories do you have?

Cox: … I try very hard to know every boy's name, but, of course, that is impossible.  One second grader came up to me and asked me if I knew his name.  I didn't and apologized.  He told me, "You did last year."

Patch: There have been many important guests who have visited the school. Which one really stands out for you?

Cox: We had Norman Mailer at a time when he was as feisty as ever.  I had known him for years, and the one thing people really didn't know about him was how kind he was to students.  He was very good with the boys in small groups after he gave the evening lecture.  General Julius Becton was also very impressive.  An African-American born in Bryn Mawr, he was a veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, the first head of FEMA, a college president, superintendent of Washington DC's schools—a very impressive man our students could aspire to emulate. 

Patch: What final message do you have for both past and present students? 

Cox: Thank you. You have enriched Kathy's and my lives with your genuine good will and wonderful accomplishments.  You are kind and generous men who will make the world a better place.  I can't wait to read about all that you do in your "being men for others," which is our student body's president's theme for this year.  I will miss the past and present students the most.