Cox was good at recognizing needs that could be taken care of by science. After the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake created a destructive tsunami, he wanted to make a wave-based warning system for tsunamis. He wanted to know the height and velocity of quake-generated waves, what time they would arrive, what direction they would come from, and what the destruction impact may be. In 1946, 1952, 1957, 1960, and 1964 Cox gathered data from tsunamis that struck Hawaii. His data later became are part of today's Pacific Tsunami warning system. In the early 1960s, Cox became a professor of geology at the University of Hawaii, remaining in that position until 1985.