Chapter 07: Leadership Experience
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Description
Dr. Cox reviews the experiences that led to the many leadership roles he has held during his career. He begins by noting that when he entered the military under the Berry Plan, there was a shortage of career people in radiation oncology and, at the age of thirty two, he became Head of the Radiation Oncology Service at Walter Reed Hospital, though he had served in administrative roles in smaller arenas.
Dr. Cox offers comments on the qualities of MD Anderson and why he has stayed at the institution so many years, noting that it offers “the best cancer care anybody can get.”
Identifier
CoxJ_01_20130103_C07
Publication Date
1-3-2013
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - The Administrator; Professional Values, Ethics, Purpose; MD Anderson Culture; The MD Anderson Brand, Reputation; Military Service; Professional Path; Professional Path; MD Anderson Culture; MD Anderson Mission and Values
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Were there any lessons that you learned from him [Gilbert Fletcher] after having—you know—arrived at this institution and meeting him and setting yourself on your own leadership path here?
James D. Cox, MD:
Well I had done some of this stuff before. I mean I had been—in terms of leadership, such as it might be—when I was in the Army, I said I went in and I was in the Berry Plan and one of the reasons was they did not—they were so short of regular Army—that is to say career Army people in the field of radiation oncology. After I had been there for a year, the last one of those people retired from the Army, and so I became the head of the radiation oncology service at Walter Reed. And I was 32. Then I became head of the radiation oncology service at Georgetown at 34 and then at the Medical College of Wisconsin at 36.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
That is unusually young—isn’t it?
James D. Cox, MD:
Pretty young. And then I was at the Medical College of Wisconsin for many years. So I had done kind of radiation oncology administration in smaller arenas before being here. I don’t think I learned anything brand new from Fletcher because I knew him from afar, but I was impressed all over again that he was a very—you know—special human being. I knew his history, and I talked with his wife about how he evolved in the field because he was not trained in radiation oncology like I was. He was trained in radiology, and then he kind of took a tour throughout Europe. He visited several places, and he was so quick to glean the essence of what these places were doing that was valuable, and he brought that back to MD Anderson. That was what he put in place. So he was a very special guy, and—you know—I had a lot of respect for him always.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
We have only five minutes left in the session today. Would you like to say anything else today? Or do you want to close off and then make another time?
James D. Cox, MD:
Well I don’t know that we have talked about things that are of interest to you or things that you think—if you would like quick comments about anything I will provide you with any quick comments.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I am not sure if I have any quick, quick, quick questions.
James D. Cox, MD:
I have had a wonderful career here, and I had some disappointments early on and some disagreements early on—things where people said or might have said, “Why did you stay here?” Certainly I had many opportunities to go other places, and I stayed here because as I practiced—you know—as I got out of the administrative realm and practiced radiation oncology here, I realized that this is the best cancer care that anybody can get and that to go to any other place would be to move into an arena where the cancer care was not as good, and that just was not an appealing thing. So—you know—I could have been vice chancellor for this or dean of that or so on and so forth—there were many opportunities, but I chose to stay doing what I did. And there are some regrets that go along with that—you know—it doesn’t get the recognition that you would get if you had been the dean of something or other and you get into the Institute of Medicine or you get recognitions of that sort, but it has been a good run. So I am happy for it. And if you want to talk about things—if you have anything else you want to know I would be happy to spend more time talking with you.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh I have plenty more I would like to know about. One thing I wanted to ask you—actually I can close off the recorder here and just take some notes for my own review purposes. So I just wanted to say officially for the record thank you for spending your time today.
James D. Cox, MD:
We have gone right along without any interruption for a couple hours at least.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Yes.
James D. Cox, MD:
It has been fun. Thank you.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Oh good.
James D. Cox, MD:
I’ve enjoyed it.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I’m glad. I did too. I’m learning a lot. Well I’m turning off the recorder at—let’s see—2:57. (end of audio)
Recommended Citation
Cox, James D. MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 07: Leadership Experience" (2013). Interview Chapters. 789.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/789
Conditions Governing Access
Open
