Building solid futures one student at a time

About Dr. Jones

Stephen B. Jones, Ph.D., was appointed President of Urbana University in July of 2008. Urbana University is an independent liberal arts institution with an emphasis on career education. Founded in 1850 by the followers of Emanuel Swedenborg, the 18 th century Swedish philosopher and scientist, Urbana University has over 1,500 students located on its seven campuses located throughout West Central Ohio. Raised in Maryland, Dr. Jones holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry and a Doctorate Degree in Resource Management from the State University of New York, in Syracuse. Dr. Jones was appointed Chancellor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in May of 2004. Having branded UAF as “ America’s Arctic University”, Jones built and led the Vision Task Force, a team of 55 visionaries who engaged the diverse internal campus community as well as the external UAF community stakeholders in transforming UAF into a more mature 21 st century research university and the flagship of the University of Alaska System. As Chancellor, he has managed a budget of over $410 million, and worked with 3,500 faculty and staff and 10,000 students located at 38 facilities across Alaska. Dr. Jones has deepened UAF’s international reputation; and he is currently the Chair of the governing board of the University of the Arctic, a circumpolar consortium of 111 entities, including 87 colleges and universities, making opportunities for foreign studies and collaboration available to the consortium’s collective 750,000 students. Before coming to UAF, Jones was Vice-Chancellor at North Carolina State University, where he headed the university’s extension, outreach, distance learning and continuing education areas, for several years. From 1997 – 2001, Jones was the Director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System serving the Alabama A&M and Auburn University extension programs supporting 900 faculty and staff located in all 67 counties in Alabama. From 1988 through 1996, he was an Associate Professor, and subsequently Assistant Director of the School of Forestry, at Pennsylvania State University. While concluding his Ph.D. at the State University of New York, Dr. Jones was the Director of the Northeast Petroleum-Forest Resources Cooperative. Prior to his career in academia, he worked twelve years with the Union Camp Corporation, a paper and allied products manufacturer acquired by International Paper in 1994. He and his wife have two married children and grandchildren living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Huntsville, Alabama.