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    Photo of Mary Fox

    Mary W. Fox

    Mary W. Fox has been the Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission since April 2022. Ms. Fox formerly served as Assistant Counsel to the Commission in both its Legal and Investigative Divisions from 2007 to 2011.

    Prior to serving as the Commission's Executive Director, Ms. Fox was the Assistant Chief Counsel for Government Operations for the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. In that role, she was instrumental in developing and implementing the Commonwealth's new Small Business, Small Diverse Business, and Veteran Business Enterprise programs, which were designed to ensure that those businesses receive an equitable portion of Commonwealth contracting dollars. She negotiated and finalized agreements with production companies for filming on Commonwealth property, drafted inter-agency agreements between the Department and other Commonwealth agencies, served as procurement Counsel for the competitive procurement of legal services through the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel, and assisted with the disposition of surplus Commonwealth properties. Ms. Fox was also regulatory Counsel for the Department, successfully pursuing the promulgation of Departmental regulations and the adoption of policy. Ms. Fox served as the Department's Records Legal Liaison, handling all Right to Know Law requests and appeals of the Department. Finally, Ms. Fox served as one of the Department of General Services' Lean Leaders, guiding employees through process improvement designed to make the work of the Department easier, better, faster, and cheaper.  

    Prior to her tenure with the Department of General Services, Ms. Fox served as Counsel to the Office of Inspector General where she assisted with investigations into governmental fraud, waste, and abuse. Ms. Fox also served as an Assistant District Attorney in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and worked in private practice at the law firm of Meyer, Wagner, Brown & Kraus in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.

    Ms. Fox obtained her Juris Doctor from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law in 2004 where she was a member of the Penn State International Law Review and the recipient of the Sandor Yelen Award for outstanding performance of staff duties. Ms. Fox also received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 where she graduated magna cum laude. She has been licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania since 2004, and is also licensed to practice before Pennsylvania's Federal Eastern and Middle District Courts.

    Ms. Fox was named a 2023 Woman of Influence by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal. In 2019, she received the Certificate of Excellence from the Office of General Counsel for demonstrating the highest levels of professional excellence and personal commitment in the performance of services to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Ms. Fox is also a 2020 graduate of the Harrisburg University Leadership Development Program, which provides senior leaders in Pennsylvania State Government the opportunity to further develop their leadership abilities and succeed at the highest levels of their profession.