Overall direction of the Foundation rests with its five Trustees, including one Trustee who knew Mrs. Cox, and a Trustee who is a recently retired Foreign Service Officer.

Margo Branscomb, President
(2004-present)

Margo Branscomb is Executive Director of the International 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.

Shannon M. Wilde, Secretary/Treasurer
(2008-present)

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.

Dian Owen VanDeMark
(1999-present)

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.

Larry Wood
(2016-present)

Larry J. Wood retired in April 2013 as Senior Vice President and Senior Regional Fiduciary Manager for Greater Texas and Hill County, Southwest Region, Wells Fargo Wealth Management. Mr. Wood has a 39-year career in financial services. During his career he attained the designation of Certified Financial Planner and Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, plus numerous brokerage licenses. For the past 38 years, he has volunteered with numerous civic and charitable organizations in South Texas. He is a graduate of Texas A&I University and the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. He is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Anne Patterson
(2021-present)

Ambassador Patterson was the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern and North African Affairs at the Department of State (2013-2017). She served as Ambassador to Egypt (2011-2013), to Pakistan (2007-2010), to Colombia (2000-2003) and to El Salvador (1997-2000). She recently retired with the rank of Career Ambassador after more than four decades in the Foreign Service. Ambassador Patterson also served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, among other assignments. She is currently a senior fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale and a member of the Commission on National Defense Strategy.

PAST TRUSTEES

Past Executive Directors