Nancy Jane Cox

The world lost a Guardian Angel of Global Public Health when Nancy Jane Cox left us on Friday, April 24. In addition to her distinguished career, she was a loving wife, mother, Nana, sister and friend to so many people and colleagues worldwide.

Born into a rural farming family of six children in Emmetsburg, Iowa on July 21,1948, Nancy was the eldest daughter where she learned love, hard work and responsibility, traits she would model throughout her life. Graduating as Valedictorian of her high school class, she was awarded a National Science Foundation scholarship to Iowa State University graduating with a BS in Microbiology, with highest honors, in 1970. Subsequently, she was awarded a Marshall Scholarship allowing her to attend the University of Cambridge in England at Darwin College, where in 1975 she earned a doctoral degree in virology.

Nancy served as the director of the Influenza Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2006 to 2014 and as director of the CDC's World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza from 1992 to 2014. She retired in December 2014, after 37 years and 278 publications. Over the course of her career, Nancy helped transform the surveillance and science of influenza viruses and vaccines worldwide. At the CDC, she set the standards for measuring immune response in infected and vaccinated people and led the agency to be the global reference center for antiviral resistance and for measuring transmission of influenza viruses in animal models. As director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza at the CDC, Nancy worked closely with public health officials from Russia, Vietnam, China and many other countries helping to transform their capabilities in influenza virology and surveillance. Her work with WHO also led to significant changes in the methods, reporting, interpretation, and policy development for selecting vaccine viruses for use in annual influenza vaccine production.

She was the recipient of ten CDC recognition awards, seven Nakano Awards, four Shepard Awards, The Lancet's "Paper of the Year," Time Magazine's "The Time 100: People Who Shape Our World," the Service to America Award, CDC's Lifetime Achievement Award and the US Government Federal Employee of the Year award.

Nancy loved spending time with her family on the beaches of Fripp Island, SC, the mountain houses near Elijay GA, the Atlanta Zoo and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. She loved dancing with Evan and partying with her friends. Nancy also loved her yard, gardening and always on patrol for offending weeds. She had a special bond with her granddaughter, Mya, age 8, who she helped raise with her daughter, Julia, in her home. Mya and her Nana loved each other deeply.

Nancy is survived by her husband of 45 years, Evan Lindsay; her daughter, Julia Lindsay; her granddaughter, Mya Lindsay; her stepson, Dr. Mark Lindsay and his wife, Dr. Robin Lindsay; her step grandchildren, Gavin Lindsay, Harper Lindsay and Griffin Lindsay. She is also survived by her brother, Randolph Cox; her sister, Sherilyn Fuoss; her brother Richard Cox and his wife, Christa; her brother Robert Cox and his wife, Lynda; and her brother Regan Cox and his wife, Rochelle. She lost her mother, Verna Cox on September 20, 2005, and her father, Emmett Cox on September 26, 2006.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, 1660 N Decatur Rd NE Decatur, GA 30307, on the Emory University campus on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 4:00 pm with reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the CDC Employee Aid Fund, https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/in-memory-of-nancy-cox to benefit CDC employees who lost their jobs due to federal government cutbacks.