President | Summit Bancorp (ret)
Emeritus Trustee | SEEDS – Access Changes Everything

Robert G. Cox retired in 2000 as President of Summit Bancorp, at the time, a $40 billion New Jersey bank holding company. Mr. Cox was appointed President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Summit Bank in 1980. He became its Chief Executive Officer as well as President of The Summit Bancorporation in 1987. In January 1994, he became Chief Executive Officer of The Summit Bancorporation. Upon the merger of UJB Financial Corp. and The Summit Bancorporation in March 1996, he became President of the newly formed Summit Bancorp and a member of its Board of Directors. Prior to joining Summit Bank in 1973 as Vice President in the Mortgage Department, Mr. Cox was a Vice President and Mortgage Officer at the Watertown Savings Bank in Watertown, New York, and previously served as a Mortgage Officer and Assistant Secretary at the Colonial Bank and Trust Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. Mr. Cox attended Mohawk Valley College in Utica, New York graduating in 1960 with a degree in banking, insurance, and real estate.

Active in numerous business and community service organizations, Mr. Cox is a former Chairman of the New Jersey Bankers Association, served on its Board of Directors, and was active in the industry for many years through membership in the Financial Services Roundtable and the American Bankers Association. He was a Director of the New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, a Director of the New Jersey Reinsurance Company, and a Trustee of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Bay View Capital Corporation and Bay View Bank, San Mateo, California from May 2001 until October 2002. He is a former Director of Ryan Beck & Co. He is a former director of Federal Trust Corporation and Federal Trust Bank, Sanford, Florida. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of First Southern Bancorp and First Southern Bank. He is past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of SEEDS – Access Changes Everything. Mr. Cox and his wife, Christine, are residents of Sarasota, Fl. and spend portions of the year in Martha’s Vineyard, MA, and Far Hills, N.J. Mr. Cox is the father of four daughters and has eight grandchildren.