Muriel Fox, public relations executive and co-founder of the National Organization for Women's Eastern Region, is the daughter of M. Morris and Anne (Rubenstein) Fox. She was born February 3, 1928 in Newark, New Jersey, and received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1948. She married Dr. Shepard Gerard Aronson in 1955 and they have two children, Eric and Lisa. A political speechwriter and publicist (1949-1950), she became a television-radio writer for Carl Byoir & Associates in New York City (1950), and was executive president when she left the firm in 1985. She served as a president of Media Com (1975-1985), By/Media, Inc. (1984-1985), and was a consultant for Hill & Knowlton, Inc. (1986-1990).
Fox has been an active spokeswoman for women's rights for almost forty years. One of the founding members of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she served in several positions: vice president (1967-1970), chair of the board (1971-1973), and chair of the national advisory committee (1973-1974). She also has been active in the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDEF); she was appointed to the board of directors in 1974, and served as vice president (1977-1978), president (1978-1981), chair of the board (1981-1992), and honorary chair of the board (1993-present). Fox has also been an active member of the Woman's Forum (president 1977), the Women's Economic Advisory Committee in New York City, the National Women's Political Caucus, and Women Today.
Fox has received several awards for her professional and political work. She was named one of the 100 top corporate women by Business Week magazine (1976), was the recipient of the Matrix award in communications (1977), and was named Business Leader of the Year by Americans for Democratic Action. She received the distinguished Alumna Award from Barnard College, as well as the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award from NY State NOW in 1985. NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund has honored her with the first Muriel Fox Communications Leadership Award (1991) and the Our Hero award (1995). Rockland County NOW gave her the Caroline Lexow Babcock award (1997). She is currently (2007) board chair of Veteran Feminists of America and is president of the Rockland Center for the Arts, the largest cultural institution in Rockland County New York.
From the guide to the Papers of NOW officers, 1966-1971, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)
