Lives intertwined: the enduring legacy of Barry and Marilyn Fox

Barry and Marilyn Fox were inseparable throughout their lives. They flourished in a variety of different and evolving roles—yet they always remained in lockstep.

Both grew up in the Newcastle area of New South Wales, Barry in Swansea and Marilyn in Cardiff. After school, Barry started a degree in physics and met Marilyn at a dance at the end of his first year. Once his physics degree was completed, Barry joined Marilyn in her second and final year at the Newcastle Teachers College. They were married and heading to Wollongong to take up their first posts as high school teachers later that year.

After a few years of teaching, the couple made a life-changing move to Canada. It was there, while working at a high school in Ontario, that Marilyn completed a science degree in botany and Barry a masters in solid state physics, with some additional courses including one in community ecology.

“Three weeks into it, I knew that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” recalls Barry. “I was interested in the way in which different species of animals make up a community in any one place.”

The adventurous couple then bought a Volkswagen Kombi and spent the next twelve months travelling through Europe. Upon returning to Australia, they both completed PhD studies at Macquarie University. In 1979, Marilyn was appointed to the National Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as a plant ecologist, and Barry began working as a tutor at UNSW, eventually earning a coveted lectureship in the School of Zoology in 1982.

Some years later in 1990, Marilyn joined Barry at UNSW as a senior lecturer in the School of Geography in the Faculty of Applied Science.

“There was an ad for a senior lecturer in any of five different fields, and Marilyn had published papers in all five of them,” Barry says with obvious pride. “It was like the job was written for her. She started there in 1990 and four years later she was Head of School.”

In 2000, when both Marilyn and Barry were at the peak of their careers, they discovered Marilyn had incurable ovarian cancer. Within a month, Marilyn had taken a medical retirement. Shortly afterwards, Barry retired from his position to care for her. They returned to Newcastle, where Marilyn passed away in 2002.

It was a sudden and very sad end to what had been an extraordinary partnership.

Barry generously established the Marilyn Fox Prize in Environmental Science at UNSW in his wife’s honour. The prize supports students who give the best performance in the University’s four-year Bachelor of Environmental Science degree. He also founded the Marilyn Fox Memorial Dux Award at the primary school Marilyn had attended in Cardiff, a prize he is proud to present in person each year. Speaking to the children and their parents, he likes to recall Marilyn’s lifelong passion for learning.

“I hope the example of her life may inspire you all and show you that you can expect many changes in the direction of your career throughout your lifetime. I hope it also demonstrates the important role education plays in these changes of direction,” he says on presentation day.

Barry has recently made a new gift to UNSW to establish the Barry Fox Prize in Ecology. He has also made arrangements to establish the Barry Fox Prize in Biology through a meaningful gift in his Will. These prizes are a fitting tribute to a couple who were united by a love of learning and a fierce embrace of change and growth.

“I've lived a very interesting life, and now I’m very comfortable,” says Barry, with great humility. “I'm lucky enough to have the money to do this sort of thing, and I’m very happy to be doing it.”