Norma Cox was born July 18, 1925, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cox attended primary and secondary school in Las Vegas, Nevada, and attended college in Long Beach, California.
Cox was affiliated with the Nevada Test Site as an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Public Health Serice (PHS) Administrator.
Cox worked as logistical support at the Nellis Air Force Base for Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1951; worked at the Public Health Service (PHS; now known as the Environmental Protection Agency EPA) from 1957 to 1974; worked for the National Park Service in 1978.