James Matthew "Jim" Jones (born April 3, 1961) is an American economist and global

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

expert. Jones is the oft-quoted former communications director for U.S. Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. At the forefront of many of the gay rights debates in the U.S. Congress during the 1990s, Jones became known as an advocate of the rights of people living with AIDS as well as gay and lesbian Americans. He also advised Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (, October 11, 1950) is an American politician serving in her sixth term as a United States senator from Washington (state), Washington, beginning her tenure in 1993, and is the state's Seniority in the United States Senate, ...

on AIDS, trade, budget and financial policy during her freshman term in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

from 1993 - 1995. In 2000, he was tapped by the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

to helm the operations of their largest grantee, the Vaccine Fund, the financing arm of the

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization ...

. This multibillion-dollar charity has as it mission to immunize every child in the 75 poorest countries of the world. In 2002, Jones was a judge at the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

pageant in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, New Jersey along with Donna Axum, Evan Dobelle and Jose Feghali. In 2017, in recognition of his service to global public health, he was inducted to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

’s Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors by Lord Patten of Barnes in a ceremony at

Divinity School, Oxford The Divinity School is a medieval building and room in the Perpendicular style in Oxford, England, part of the University of Oxford. Built between 1427 and 1483, it is the oldest surviving purpose-built building for university use, specifically f ...

. In retirement, he serves on the boards of Counterpart International, WEConnect International and Concordia.

Personal life

Jones was born in

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

and graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1983 with a degree in international relations. He also studied at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

under the auspices of the Fulbright program and has graduate degrees from

where he concentrated his studies on development and international economic policy. His husband is Broadway performer, choreographer, and director Joe Langworth. They married in October 2016 in West Park, Town of

Esopus, New York Esopus ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 9,548 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was named afte ...

References

* http://www.planetout.com/news/feature.html?sernum=920 * http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jul/02/op/FP607020306.html * http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/international/asia/02HEPA.html?ex=1157169600&en=3d41c410bad15410&ei=5070 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, James Matthew 1961 births Living people American lobbyists Philanthropists from New York (state) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation people New York (state) Democrats Alumni of the University of Oxford LGBTQ people from New York (state) Georgetown University alumni American public relations people People from Nyack, New York