Francis Orlando Wilcox (April 9, 1908 – February 20, 1985) was an official in theUnited States Department of State.

Francis O. Wilcox was born inColumbus Junction, Iowa on April 9, 1908. He was educated at theUniversity of Iowa, receiving hisA.B. in 1930, hisA.M. in 1931, and hisPh.D. in 1933. He then attended theUniversity of Geneva and theGraduate Institute of International Studies, and received a doctorate inpolitical science in 1935. From 1935 through 1941, he taught political science at theUniversity of Iowa, theUniversity of Louisville, theUniversity of Chicago, and theUniversity of Michigan.

Wilcox joined theUnited States Department of State in 1942. From 1947 through 1951, he was the firstchief of staff of theUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. During this time, the Committee oversaw the United States' involvement in the creation ofNATO and theMarshall Plan.

In 1955,President of the United StatesDwight D. Eisenhower nominated Wilcox asAssistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs and, afterSenate confirmation, Wilcox served in this office from September 6, 1955, through January 20, 1961. In this capacity, he had primary responsibility for United States involvement in theUnited Nations.

Leaving government service in 1961, Wilcox becamedean of theJohns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. He became dean emeritus in 1973.

Wilcox died of aheart attack on February 20, 1985. He was survived by his wife, Virginia, two children and two granddaughters.

• "Francis O. Wilcox, 76; Ex-State Dept. Official",The New York Times, February 23, 1985
• Wilcox's Papers at the University of Iowa

• 1908 births
• 1961 deaths
• United States assistant secretaries of state
• People from Columbus Junction, Iowa
• University of Iowa alumni
• University of Geneva alumni
• Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni
• University of Iowa faculty
• University of Louisville faculty
• University of Chicago faculty
• University of Michigan faculty
• Johns Hopkins University people
• 20th-century American people

• Articles with short description
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