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James F. Jones, Jr.
President-Elect, Trinity College
James F. Jones, Jr. was elected 20th President
of Trinity College by the College Board of Trustees on February 7, 2004. He
will take office effective July 1. Jones comes to Trinity from Kalamazoo
College, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he served as president and professor in
the Humanities.
At Kalamazoo, Jones successfully lead the movement to reposition the College
to play a pivotal role in the local community while winning extensive external
support from prominent national foundations. He also implemented the
development of a strategic plan for Kalamazoo, focusing primarily on
strengthening the faculty, improving information technology on campus, and
renovating the residence and dining halls.
The strategic plan also led to establishing the goals for Kalamazoo’s
comprehensive campaign, which exceeded its target eighteen months before the
end of the public phase. The campaign resulted in the endowing of ten faculty
chairs, substantial student scholarship and faculty development funds, the
renovation of several major buildings, and the planned renovation and doubling
in size of the Upjohn Library.
Prior to joining Kalamazoo College, Jones was with Southern Methodist
University, in Dallas, Texas, as professor of the Humanities, dean of Dedman
College of Humanities and Sciences, and vice provost of the University (1991 –
1996).
Earlier, he served as professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, director
of the Summer Language Institute in France, and director of Undergraduate
Studies in French at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and as
preceptor for the Department of French and Romantic Philology at Columbia
University.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones is a graduate of The University of
Virginia (B.A.; cum laude), Emory University (M.A.), and Columbia University
(M. Phil.) (Ph.D.), and holds a Certificat, Degré Avancé, from the Ecole des
Professeurs de Français à l'Etranger, the Sorbonne. His publications include
Rousseau's Dialogues: An Interpretive Essay, The Story of a Fair Greek of
Yesteryear, a translation into English of L'Histoire d'une Grecque moderne by
Antoine-François Prévost, and Nouvelle Héloïse: Rousseau and Utopia, along
with more than two dozen scholarly articles.
Jones has received numerous awards for his community alliances and scholarly
and cultural achievements on both sides of the Atlantic. He maintains
positions on numerous boards, with directorships and trusteeships on select
educational and cultural committees. He and his wife, Jan, have three
children: Jennifer, Justin, and Jason.
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