In 1968 she worked as an architect and associate at McConnell Smith and Johnson before becoming a director from 1980 to 1997,[1] during which time she made a leading contribution to the advancement of heritage and health care design through the delivery of many significant projects in Australia and Malaysia.
[5] After joining as a student member in the sixties, from 1986 to 1996 Cox became highly involved in the Australian Institute of Architects, serving on numerous local and national committees.
Cox has served on almost thirty boards and high-level committees in a range of professional areas including as a member of the Heritage Council of New South Wales, as a member of many advisory committees assisting the New South Wales and Commonwealth governments in the areas of architecture, construction, housing, public works and building standards, and as treasurer and president of Docomomo.
This followed an earlier term as the New South Wales Chapter's first woman President in 1988–90, and her roles on numerous Institute committees at state and national level.
Mitterrand concluded that: “Through your energetic involvement and your federative enthusiasm, you offer a major contribution to the new orientation of the architecture of tomorrow where the aesthetic is more than ever interwoven with the principle of responsibility.” [8] In 2013 Cox was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects National President's Prize (2013).
The Jury's citation stated that "Her enormous gift to architecture and the profession both here and overseas has been passionate, tenacious, pragmatic, dedicated and a selfless offering to the greater good.