Alan Willcox

Alanson Work Willcox was an American lawyer who served as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Willcox was born in Akron Ohio, the son of statistician Walter Francis Willcox. He graduated from The Hill School in 1918, Cornell in 1922, and Harvard Law School in 1926. At Cornell, he was a member of Psi Upsilon.
He worked for the US Government during the Roosevelt and Truman years, from 1934-1953, and later returned to Washington during the Kennedy/Johnson presidency. Initially he worked as a legal advisor for the Treasury Department but within a short time he started a longer term position with the Social Security Board which had recently been established to implement and operate the Social Security Act of 1935. During that period an important part of his role involved ensuring that the Social Security Act could be defended against constitutional challenges.
In the sixties he was appointed as general counsel to the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and was deeply involved in the Social Security Amendments of 1965 which resulted in creation of the Medicare program.

Mountaineering

Until into his 40s he was an active and enthusiastic climber and alpinist. Amongst those he climbed with were Bill House, Elizabeth Woolsey and his brother William B. Willcox.
As well as climbing in the European Alps, he also joined Fritz Wiessner, Bill House and Elizabeth Woolsey in 1936 on an expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Waddington which, at the time, was Canada’s highest unclimbed peak at.
Willcox died at his Washington home in 1978, leaving his wife and their two sons.