Robert James Jones (born 1951) is an American crop physiology scientist, serving as the 34th president of 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 ...

starting July 2025. He served as the 10th chancellor of the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

from September 2016 to June 2025 and as the 19th president of the

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

from January 2013 to September 2016.

Education

Jones earned a bachelor's degree in

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

from Fort Valley State College, a master's degree in crop physiology at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, and a doctorate in crop physiology at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Career

University of Minnesota

Jones worked at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

for 34 years in many positions: a professor in agronomy and plant genetics, executive vice provost, and senior vice president for academic administration from 2004 to 2013. The University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center was named after Jones.

University at Albany

Following his career at the University of Minnesota, Jones served as the president of the State University of New York at Albany from 2013 to 2016. During his tenure, he created the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Racial assault hoax

Jones made national headlines for presiding over a racial hoax that was reported as a race-motivated assault against three African-American women on a campus bus. Based upon a police report at the time, Jones firmly declared in a public announcement that "early this morning, three of our students were harassed and assaulted while riding a bus in Albany. I am deeply concerned, saddened and angry about this incident. There is no place in the UAlbany community for violence, no place for racial intolerance and no place for gender violence.". Later video evidence showed that the trio was not assaulted and were instead aggressors in the incident. Students and observers criticized Jones as rushing to judgement while Jones refused to apologize stating that he made his remark based upon the police report at that time. Jones later announced that the university expelled two of the students and suspended the third for violating the student code of conduct.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

In July 2016, Jones was named as the University of Illinois' tenth chancellor. According to Jones, leaving the University at Albany was one of the most difficult decisions he had to make in his academic career. Jones also has a tenured faculty position in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences in the department of crop sciences. In November 2024, Jones announced he would be stepping down in June 2025.

University of Washington

On February 3, 2025, the University of Washington Board of Regents named Jones as the incoming president of the University of Washington. Jones will enter into his new role at the end of the 2024–2025 school year when President Ana Mari Cauce's current term ends. Jones will serve as the 34th president at the University of Washington, and the first Black president in the school's 164-year history.

Personal life

Jones was a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

singer in

Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal music, vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B cha ...

, a vocal ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota that sings

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and R&B.

References

External links

Full CV

Abbreviated CV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Robert J. 20th-century American botanists 21st-century American scientists Presidents of University at Albany University of Missouri alumni American tenors Leaders of the University of Illinois University of Georgia alumni University of Minnesota faculty Living people 1951 births 20th-century African-American scientists