Trustees


Margo Branscomb, Chair
Margo Branscomb is Executive Director of the Global Foundation for Academic Innovation, which directs k-12 distance learning labs in Central America. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Duke University in Political Science, cum laude.


Dian Owen VanDeMark, President
Ms. VanDeMark is a partner in a business venture with principal operations at Chapman Ranch, Texas. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. A Chapman family member and cousin of Una Chapman Cox, she has been involved in the work of the Foundation since 1996.


Harvie Branscomb, Jr., Secretary
Harvie Branscomb, Jr., resides in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he practices law and has business interests. He served as legal counsel for Mrs. Cox, and has been involved in the Cox Foundation since its inception. His BA is from Duke University, and LLB is from Yale University Law School. He has served as Chairman of the Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association, Trustee of the Texas A&M Foundation (CC), Director of the Bank of Corpus Christi and of the Mercantile Bank and Trust, San Antonio. He is a member of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Law Institute.


Shannon M. Wilde, Treasurer
Shannon M. Wilde is a practicing attorney and shareholder of Branscomb | PC. He holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Government and Spanish, with high honors, from The University of Texas. He received his MBA and Juris Doctor degrees from Baylor University. While at Baylor, Mr. Wilde was a Baylor Law Alumni Academic Merit Scholar.


A. Elizabeth Jones
During her distinguished 35 year Foreign Service career, Ambassador Jones served as Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia and Ambassador to Kazakhstan. She retired in 2005 with the personal rank of Career Ambassador and has worked since then as Executive Vice President of APCO Worldwide, an international strategic counsel and communications company. Ambassador Jones served on and chaired the Policy Council before joining the Cox Foundation as trustee in 2009.


Executive Director



Lino Gutiérrez
Ambassador Lino Gutiérrez assumed the position of Executive Director in December 2010. His 29-year career in the Department of State included service as Ambassador to Argentina and Nicaragua, Acting Assistant Secretary of State in Western Hemisphere Affairs, and International Affairs Advisor at the National War College. He also served in the Dominican Republic, Portugal, Haiti, France and the Bahamas. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 2006, he served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University, and Course Chair at the Foreign Service Institute. He is also on the Board of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Studies. His awards include the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award and the U.S. Army Award for Civilian Excellence.

Trustees and Executive Director

Past Trustees and Executive Directors