Robert J. Jones, currently the chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been chosen as the next president of the University of Washington.
Jones will succeed Ana Mari Cauce as the university’s 34th president. He is scheduled to assume office on August 1.
“I am honored to be joining the University of Washington and excited to lead this extraordinary public university in its mission serving students, families and communities across Washington and beyond,” Jones said in a release from UW.
“The UW is globally renowned as a home of outstanding teaching, research, innovation and patient care. I look forward to working with the UW’s talented and dedicated faculty and staff to support and accelerate their work, and to partnering with the UW’s supporters to advance students’ success, economic opportunity and discovery for the public good,” Jones said.
The appointment marks the third major research university that Jones has led. He was the president of the University of Albany from 2013 to 2016. After his stint at Albany, Jones was named the 10th chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on Sept. 26, 2016. He announced last November that he would be stepping down from that role at the end of this academic year.
Jones was the first African American to serve as UI Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s chancellor, and he will be the first African American to lead UW. A well-established higher education leader on the national scene, he has chaired the board of directors for the Association of American Universities, and he has also served as the chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors.
At Illinois, Jones helped steer the university’s largest ever capital campaign, bringing in $2.7 billion in donations. The institution launched several major research initiatives under his leadership. He also developed the Illinois Commitment, a program that guaranteed four years of free tuition to state residents with annual family incomes less than $67,100.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Fort Valley State College, a master’s degree in crop physiology from the University of Georgia, and a doctorate in crop physiology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He began his academic career as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota in 1978, where he became known as a national authority on crop physiology.
In the university’s announcement, UW Board of Regents Chair Blaine Tamaki said Jones was “an accomplished, visionary leader who has risen through the faculty at outstanding state universities.”
“His inspiring and barrier-breaking personal journey, highly regarded scholarship and decades of transformative leadership convinced us that Chancellor Jones is the ideal person to build upon President Ana Mari Cauce’s legacy,” Tamaki added.
Current UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced last year that she would step down as UW president at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
“Having known and worked with Robert within AAU, APLU and the Big Ten Conference, I know he will bring a deep and demonstrated commitment to scholarship, innovation, research and especially, access to excellence for students regardless of their means or background,” said Cauce.