Dr. Jones became president of the University July 1, 1987, and engaged the campus in developing a five-year plan called Project Vision. Conflict arose between Dr. Jones and the Board of Trustees, and he announced his resignation on Oct. 24, 1988.

Born in Tarentum, Pennsylvania, he earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in civil engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (later Carnegie Mellon University).

Dr. Jones’ academic career included service as a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, department chair at Ohio State University, dean at University of Massachusetts Amherst and academic vice president at Boston University before becoming president of UD. After leaving Delaware, he went on to serve as founding president of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and as senior adviser at Khalifa University, both in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

Dr. Jones was active in professional engineering societies, serving as executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers and an officer in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. He was president of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. 

After retiring, Dr. Jones continued to consult extensively abroad, promoting capacity building through engineering education and economic development in countries such as Russia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

In addition to his professional degrees and activities, he had a wide range of interests. These included keeping current in global affairs by attending programs at the Cosmos Club, participating in the Fairfax County Master Gardener’s Program and taking advantage of the fine and performing arts such as opera, symphony performances, ballet and theatre in the Washington, D.C., area. He also loved to travel and enjoyed the extensive planning the trips required. Over the past decade and a half, he and his wife, Beth, went to the Galapagos, Antarctica, the Artic, Cambodia, Syria, Nigeria, Egypt, Scotland and the Amazon.

Throughout his life, Dr. Jones was an active member in the Lutheran (ELCA) church. Most recently he served on the council of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Vienna, Virginia. He provided leadership in stewardship, membership development and financial viability. He often took on the difficult tasks of strategic planning and capital campaigns, always dedicating an abundance of his own time and resources before asking others to do the same. 

His family said he is remembered most for his love and laughter and that he leaned toward silliness when with his young daughters and granddaughter. To this day, they said, his daughters answer to “big dude” and “little dude,” and learned from him to call out “Yo!” when they came to visit.

Dr. Jones is preceded in death by his wife, Sharon Keillor, the mother of his children. He is survived by his wife Bethany; his daughters Kim Jones Gilliam (husband Kevin), and Tammie Jones, and granddaughter Cameron.  

Services were private, with interment at National Memorial Park, Falls Church, Virginia.