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Dr. Donna Cox, professor of music, served as Chair of the Department of Music, Coordinator of Vocal Activities and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts In Music degree program. A choral conductor, her ensemble, the Ebony Heritage Singers, has performed for several professional conferences and in various parts of the world. A much-sought lecturer and choral adjudicator, she regularly presents for professional music organizations such as the American Choral Directors divisional and national conferences, the International Association of Women in Music, the International Music Education Society, several state music education conferences, the American Music Therapy Association, National Association for Music Education, Chicago Children's Choir, Midwest Kodaly Music Educators Association and symposiums held at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Berea College and University of Colorado at Boulder. Cox is very interested in the application of music to issues of diversity and has presented multiple sessions at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education.

Dr. Cox has also presented lectures and recitals at several universities, including Duke University Divinity School, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Tiffin University, University of Colorado at Boulder, Hampton University, Virginia Union University and Berea College. Dr. Cox has performed, studied and taught in various parts of the world. She taught and performed in Dublin, Ireland, where she and a small group of singers opened for the 1998 Tour de France. She has studied Irish traditional music and performed recitals of African American Arts Songs and Spirituals in Ireland and London. She has traveled several times to Ghana, West Africa, to conduct choral and vocal workshops and master classes and has been featured in recital at the National Theatre of Ghana. She and groups of singers have traveled to Ghana to study drumming and dance and presented concert tours in Rome, Fossano, and Florence, Italy, as well as Honolulu. She was staff musician for the Festival of Gospel Music in Prague, Czech Republic. Dr. Cox is a recipient of the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District Individual Artist Fellowship Award in the Master Artist area.

Faculty perspective

"I love UD! I have been fortunate to work with some truly excellent students. I love to travel and meet new people. I especially enjoy leading groups and helping them explore new worlds and horizon-broadening experiences. My association with UD has helped foster this love and when I can do so, my work on campus is invigorated. A recent highlight was traveling to South Africa with five UD peers to explore the culture and potential partnerships."

Personal interests

Dr. Cox, Pastor-at-Large, is a licensed minister and enjoys teaching Bible studies, leading retreats for married and engaged couples and working with young adults. She is a die-hard crafter and enjoys the creative process immensely. Her home is filled with her handicrafts.

• Visit her ministry website: http://revdonc.wordpress.com or https://doxologyministriesinternational.wordpress.com/.

Research interests

• African American sacred music
• Sacred Music and Worship in the local church
• The Role of Music and the Arts in Women’s Healing and Growth

Selected publications

The Watering Place: Creating Space for Spiritually Dehydrated and Hurried Women, George Fox University, 2023.

Reflections on Psalm 126: From Timeout to Liberty. George Fox University, 2022.

Searchable Gospel Music Database: Gospel Songs Your Choir Will Love to Sing, Dayton, Ohio. 2021.

The Superpower of Singing: Music and the Struggle Against Slavery. National Park Services. 2021. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-superpower-of-singing-music-and-the-struggle-against-slavery.htm#:~:text=When%20spoken%20words%20are%20impossible,and%20communicating%20beyond%20the%20words.  

Seven-Day ART Journal, Vol. 1: Names of God, PBM Press, LLC, 2020.

Churchgoers Aren’t Able to Lift Every Voice and Sing During The Pandemic - Here’s Why that Matters, The Conversation. 2020 https://theconversation.com/churchgoers-arent-able-to-lift-every-voice-and-sing-during-the-pandemic-heres-why-that-matters-139711

The Power of Song in a Strange Land, The Conversation. 2020. https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-a-song-in-a-strange-land-129969