Una Chapman Cox, of Chapman Ranch near Corpus Christi, Texas, was a woman of many interests and an enthusiastic world traveler. While visiting Bombay in 1948, she failed to take her passport with her as she went ashore from her cruise ship and was detained. She never forgot Royal Bisbee, the young Foreign Service Officer who took a personal interest in her and brought her food, a bottle of wine and some books to read while he arranged for her release and the means to return to her cruise ship.

In 1980 Mrs. Cox established the first nonprofit foundation to support the effectiveness and professionalism of the U.S. Foreign Service. With the help of her attorney, Harvie Branscomb, Jr., she established the Una Chapman Cox Foundation first on a small scale while she was living. Early programs of the Foundation, such as the Sabbatical Leave Program, were developed in discussions that Mrs. Cox and Mr. Branscomb had with State Department officials including Ambassador Viron P. Vaky and Ambassador Paul H. Boeker, and reflected Mrs. Cox's wishes that her Foundation work to identify specific programs and ideas that she hoped would have a lasting impact.

Mrs. Cox served as sole trustee of the Foundation during her life. After her death, the trustees have included Mr. Branscomb, a member of the Chapman family, and an experienced Foreign Service Officer, as well as others who are dedicated to Mrs. Cox's mission. An advisory board, the Cox Foundation Policy Council, has also been established to assist in identifying the kind of innovative programs, that Mrs. Cox had advocated. Over the years, Mrs. Cox's vision has motivated, and continues to motivate, participants in the Cox Foundation's activities.