Karen Cox (nurse)

Karen Cox is a British academic and former registered nurse. She is currently the Vice Chancellor of University of Kent. She was a Professor of Cancer and Palliative Care, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham. She was one of the main drivers behind the 'Project Transform' there, which at the time was controversial and led to many changes at the University.

Since 1 August 2017, she has served as the sixth Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent. She has overseen several highly successful projects including the opening of the widely acclaimed Kent and Medway Medical School. Due to various government initiatives which placed severe pressure on several similar universities in the sector, during her tenure the University's rank fell several places in the UK University league tables, and the Gold rating in the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) awarded in 2017 was downgraded to Silver in the 2023 assessment. She has overseen the proposed phasing-out of nine courses (less than 3% of the total courses offered by the University) later finalised to include Art History, Anthropology, Health and Social Care, Music and Audio Technology, Philosophy and Religious Studies, and the University's Journalism course which was struggling to attract students. This received inevitable criticism from the effected academic communities, but the proposals have generally been accepted as necessary by the majority of staff and students of the University.

In April 2024 Cox announced she would be standing down from her position as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent after a successful term in post.