Larry Jones is a retired chemist dedicated to the furthering of

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

thought. He is the founder and former president of the

Institute for Humanist Studies The Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS) is a think tank based in Washington, DC, USA, that says it is "committed to information and practices meant to address the sociopolitical, economic and cultural challenges facing communities within the Uni ...

, a founder of the

Secular Coalition for America The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "protecting the equal rights of nonreligious Americans." The Secular Coalition has chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, composed of lo ...

, and has been involved in numerous other humanist organizations.

Biography

Jones received his undergraduate degree from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

and attended graduate school at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. For many years Jones worked as a research chemist for the Research and Development division of General Electric. Although he was born into an atheist family, Jones did not discover

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

until the mid 1980s, when he became involved in the Capital District Humanist Society, a local humanist group in Albany, and the

Council for Secular Humanism The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

. Jones later served on the CDHS board and as director from 1998 to 2002. In 1999, Jones founded the

, a humanist think-tank based in

Albany, NY Albany ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldest city in New York, and the county seat of and most popu ...

, in order to promote a greater understanding of humanist values. The IHS grant program has also provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding to humanist projects. Both the

Secular Student Alliance The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an American educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and ...

and

Camp Quest Camp Quest is an organisation providing humanist residential summer camps for children in the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway. It was first held in 1996 in Kentucky to provide an alternative to the traditional religiousl ...

were organizations that benefitted from these grants. August Brunsman, executive director of the

, states that Jones was “essentially one of the first donors to significantly support the SSA,” and that the IHS grant was vital to the survival of the organization. Funding from the IHS also helped

grow and become more professionalized. Jones has been a board member of the

National Philanthropic Trust National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) is an American independent public charity that provides philanthropic expertise to donors, foundations and financial institutions. NPT ranks among the largest grantmaking institutions in the United States. NPT s ...

, the

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to "p ...

, Troy Music Hall, National Securities Corporation, and the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

. Prior to the creation of the

in late 2002, Jones represented the

in the Coalition for the Community of Reason.

Awards and achievements

In 2004, the Humanists of Florida Association named Jones “Humanist of the Year.” After spending several years on its executive committee, in 2006, Jones became the first vice-president of the

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Fou ...

, the worldwide umbrella group for humanist, atheist, rationalist, freethought, and ethical culture groups. He also represented the IHEU as a non-governmental organization delegate to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In 2006, Jones received the Freethought Backbone Award in recognition of his commitment to the humanist movement and his role as founder and then-president of the

. The award was given by the

at an annual conference hosted by the Secular Student Alliance and

Atheist Alliance International Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. The group supports atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promoting local ...

. In August 2013, Jones was honored by the

for his contributions to humanism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Larry 21st-century American chemists American humanists People from Albany, New York Living people Scientists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people)