U of I Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones to step down

(WAND) - Robert Jones plans to step down as University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor and vice president of the University of Illinois System at the end of the current academic year.

Jones have spent nine years in leadership at the state’s flagship public university, U of I System President Tim Killeen said.

“From his first day on campus, Chancellor Jones has been relentlessly committed to delivering excellence at scale, and with him at the helm, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has done just that through its expanded enrollment, through its commitment to growing its world-class faculty and through research that is helping meet the challenges of our time — feeding a growing global population, creating a sustainable economy and building the kind of just and equitable society we need,” Killeen said.

Jones has served as chair of the Association of American Universities Board of Directors, chair of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Board of Directors, chair of the Big Ten Council of Chancellors and Presidents, president of the University of Albany and in a number of leadership roles at the University of Minnesota.

“Chancellor Jones understands, on a very profound level, the power of the university system to deliver when people need it most — our research prowess was never more evident than during the pandemic as the creator of a life-saving test for the virus and a partner in the drive to create a vaccine,” Killeen said.

“I truly believe this is the greatest university in the world, which makes this the most difficult decision that has confronted me in my 47 years in higher education. My time at Illinois has been the most profound experience of my professional life, and I thank every single campus community member for that,” Jones said. “We are at the high point in our 157-year history in terms of our educational and research impact. Next is a period of transition with our institutional strategy and collaborations. This is an appropriate time to look toward the next leader who will build on that momentum and promote the bold ideas for which Illinois is known.”

Donald J. Edwards, chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, said, “I am exceptionally grateful to Chancellor Jones for his leadership of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In this unprecedented era, the university increased access for the students of Illinois while remaining dedicated to our mission of excellence and affordability. Urbana-Champaign has also grown its capacity for research with economic and societal impact and been a major contributor to the health of our people throughout the state — I have had no greater pride in this university than knowing that under Chancellor Jones’ leadership, Urbana-Champaign played such a pivotal role in steering our state through the pandemic. As chairman of the board but also as a dedicated alumnus, I am thankful for Chancellor Jones’ commitment to this great institution and his collaborative, innovative spirit.”

Jones became the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s first African American chancellor in 2016 after more than three decades as an internationally respected authority on plant physiology and nationally recognized university administrator.

Jones is a Georgia native who 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.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America.

The U of I System will now begin the search for his successor.