by 
CEO and Executive Director | Preservation Society of Newport County
Lighting Talk | Perspectives in Preservation
Trudy Coxe is a nationally recognized historic preservation leader, museum executive and activist.
As the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of The Preservation Society of Newport County, Coxe oversees a collection of 11 historic house museums, including seven National Historic Landmarks, spanning nearly 300 years of American architectural history. These include the Gilded Age icons The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms and Rosecliff.
With 240 full-time and seasonal employees, an annual operating budget of $30 million, 40,000 members, and 1 million annual tours given, the Preservation Society is a significant economic driver for Rhode Island; it is the most visited cultural attraction in Rhode Island and among the top four most visited museums in New England.
Immediately prior to joining the Preservation Society in December 1998, Coxe served more than six years as Massachusetts’ Secretary of Environmental Affairs for Governors Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci. She presided over completion of the Boston Harbor cleanup and creation of the next generation of clean drinking water technology; protected more than 100,000 acres of land; and led the national fight for alternative-fueled vehicles. Previously, she served as the Director of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Key accomplishments included the designation of two National Marine Sanctuaries – Monterey Bay and Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico. She also served for 11 years as the Executive Director of Rhode Island’s Save The Bay, turning it into the largest environmental action organization in New England. The popular Save The Bay Swim was initiated by Coxe.
Some of Coxe’s key accomplishments at The Preservation Society of Newport County include:
- raising hundreds of millions of dollars for preservation of the Newport Mansions
- launching an aggressive plan to ensure the long-term conservation of the houses
- achieving re-accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (fewer than 1,100 of the estimated 33,000 museums in the U.S. are accredited)
- establishing a Fellows program for emerging scholars
- initiating a vibrant exhibition program, converting the second floor of Rosecliff into museum exhibition space
- creating popular adult and children’s audio tours in 11 languages
- organically growing the organization’s membership from 3,800 to 40,000 supporters
Among her honors, Coxe holds an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Roger Williams University, an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Rhode Island, and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. She has received the following awards:
- The 2023 Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts
- Inclusion in GoLocal Prov’s 2023 list of 50 Greatest Living Rhode Islanders.
- Woman of the Year by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association
- One of the 30 Most Powerful Women in Rhode Island by Rhode Island Monthly
- The Business Woman Award for Overall Career Achievement from Providence Business News
- The Award of Excellence from the National Garden Clubs, Inc. for her lifetime of environmental advocacy
- The Mary Brennan Tourism Award from the Rhode Island Hospitality Association
- The 2018 Woman of the Year Award by the Rhode Island Hospitality Association
Coxe serves on several boards, including Grow Smart RI, the Rhode Island Commodores and the Advisory Board of the Conservation Law Foundation/Rhode Island. She is an Incorporator of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, BankNewport and the Newport Health Care Corporation.
