Sam Fox

Sam Fox (born May 9, 1929) is an American businessman in St. Louis, and the owner of Harbour Group Industries.

He graduated with a B.S./B.A. (Bachelor of Science, Business Administration) with honors in business in 1951.

During the Korean War, he served in the United States Naval Reserve.

In 1976, Fox founded the Harbour Group, an operating company that builds and acquires businesses where he served as chairman and CEO until 2007 when he left to be the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.

In addition, through the Fox Family Foundation, a private philanthropy he and his wife established in 1986, Fox has provided financial assistance to hundreds of charitable organizations in St. Louis and around the world.

Fox has also received numerous other honors and awards, including the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, the Marco Polo Award from the People's Republic of China, the Thomas Jefferson Award from the Missouri Historical Society, and the Sword of Ignatius Loyola Award from Saint Louis University.

From 1998 to 2004 he served as chairman of a $1.5 billion capital campaign for his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis, and from 1999 to 2001 he served as vice chairman of the board of trustees.

Saint Louis University awarded Fox an honorary doctorate of public service in 2000.

A major donor to the Republican Party, Fox was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 and a "Ranger" in 2004, categories for donors who recruit others to donate.

In 2003 he also served as chair of the $63 million capital campaign of the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

In 2003 he was named St. Louis Citizen of the Year by the Post-Dispatch and a committee of the award's former recipients.

Outside of St.Louis, Fox serves on the boards of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, based in Alexandria, Virginia; the King Baudouin Foundation United States, a New York-based nonprofit that helps U.S. donors achieve their philanthropic goals in Europe and Africa; and The Washington Center, the largest independent, nonprofit academic internship program in the United States.

In 2004 the university's board of trustees elected him a lifetime voting trustee.

He serves or has served on the boards of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Science Center, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis, the St. Louis Muny Opera, and Forest Park Forever.

In 2004, Washington University dedicated its new Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, and also awarded him with an honorary doctorate of laws degree.

On October 15, 2004, Fox donated $50,000 to Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ("SBVT"), a 527 group that opposed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election by claiming that Kerry exaggerated his service record.

The SBVT has, in turn, been criticized for allegedly failing to substantiate many of their claims.

Fox noted that he made the donation after comparisons of President Bush to Adolf Hitler were posted on the website MoveOn.org.

(See Ambassadorial nomination section below.)

In later elections, Fox supported the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney and remained one of the most prominent Jewish donors to the Republican party.

Fox is a past chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Fox faced lengthy questioning from John Kerry, the target of attacks by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group to which Fox contributed in 2004.

Fox was nominated for the position of Ambassador to Belgium in December 2006.

He was the United States Ambassador to Belgium from April 11, 2007 until January 2, 2009.

President George W. Bush appointed Fox to the post by a recess appointment on April 4, 2007.

Fox was born in Desloge, Missouri to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant Michel Fuks (later Max Fox), and Fanny Gold.

Encouraged by an older sister to go to college, he saved money by working summers in Illinois canning peas and corn.

He also sold Fuller brushes.

After moving in with the sister and her husband in St. Louis, he enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, where he joined Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.

During his February 2007 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Fox was supported by both of Missouri's senators, Republican Kit Bond and Democrat Claire McCaskill, as well as by two former U.S. Senators from Missouri, John C. Danforth (Rep.) and Thomas F. Eagleton (Dem.).

Danforth described him as "very bright...ebullient...(and) a soft touch," while Eagleton, in a letter, called him "the epitome of a humanitarian."

President George W. Bush appointed Sam and Marilyn Fox to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.

Fox was an early supporter of Josh Hawley and contributed to his campaign for Missouri Attorney General.

He encouraged Hawley to run for US Senate against incumbent Claire McCaskill.

After Hawley's support of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Fox released a statement describing Hawley's actions as "reckless pandering" and a "disgrace."

In the statement Fox said that his support for Hawley was a mistake and that he would not support the senator again.

Upon his return to the United States in 2009, he resumed his role as chairman.

Since its inception, Harbour Group has built and acquired more than 176 companies in 37 industries.

For more than 40 years, Fox has been active in St. Louis civic affairs.

He served two terms as chairman and one as president of the St. Louis Areas Council Boy Scouts of America; is former president of the board of commissioners of the Saint Louis Art Museum; and is a lifetime member of the Art Museum's board of trustees.