Lyle Vincent Jones (March 11, 1924 – April 13, 2016) was an American psychologist known for his pioneering work in

psychometrics Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and rela ...

. He was an early architect of the

National Assessment of Educational Progress The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in various subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project administered by the ...

Early life and education

Jones was born in

Grandview, Washington Grandview is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States. It is about 38 miles west of Kennewick and 38 miles southeast of Yakima. The population was 10,907 at the 2020 census. Grandview's economy is agriculture based; with apples, cher ...

on March 11, 1924. He began taking classes at

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

in 1942. A year later, immediately after completing his freshman year, he left Reed to begin active duty in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. He continued to serve in the Air Corps until 1946, when he attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

to complete his bachelor's degree. He then received his master's degree, also from the University of Washington, before receiving his Ph.D. from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1950.

Career

After receiving his Ph.D., Jones began teaching at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

before joining the faculty of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

(UNC-Chapel Hill) in 1957. At UNC-Chapel Hill, he worked with

Louis Leon Thurstone Louis Leon Thurstone (May 29, 1887 – September 29, 1955) was an American pioneer in the fields of psychometrics and psychophysics. He conceived the approach to measurement known as the law of comparative judgment, and is well known for his co ...

at the Psychometric Laboratory (later renamed the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory). Jones served as director of the Psychometric Laboratory from 1957 until he retired in 1992, except for a five-year hiatus. For ten years (1969–79), he was also vice chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill and dean of the graduate school there. Beginning in 1992, he was a research professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Other positions

Jones was the managing editor of ''

Psychometrika ''Psychometrika'' is the official journal of the Psychometric Society, a professional body dedicated to psychometrics and quantitative psychology. The journal focuses on quantitative methods for the measurement and evaluation of human behavior, in ...

'' from 1956 to 1961, the president of the

Psychometric Society The Psychometric Society is an international nonprofit professional organization devoted to the advancement of quantitative measurement practices in psychology, education, and the social sciences. The society publishes a scientific journal called ...

from 1962 to 1963, and president of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

's Division 5 from 1963 to 1964.

Death and recognition

Jones died on April 13, 2016, in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

, at the age of 92. In his honor, UNC-Chapel Hill established the Lyle V. Jones Award, which it awards every year to a graduate student in the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory "who epitomizes both academic excellence and community engagement within the lab."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lyle Vincent 1924 births 2016 deaths Psychometricians 20th-century American psychologists University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Experimental psychologists University of Washington alumni Stanford University alumni University of Chicago faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty People from Yakima County, Washington Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences fellows Reed College alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Members of the National Academy of Medicine