Latest news with #IllinoisCommitment
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U of I chancellor reflects before his retirement: 'I'm going to miss it with all my heart'
The Brief University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones is settling down after nine years. Jones is the first African American chancellor in the school's 158-year history. His replacement has not been announced. After nine years at the top, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor Robert Jones is leaving for a new job as president of the University of Washington. He sat down for an exit interview with FOX 32 about the successes and challenges of his historic tenure. Jones isn't your typical ivory tower academic. We walked with Jones as he encountered a group of students taking pictures in front of the university's famed alma mater statue. "Hey guys! I heard you were hanging out at alma. I thought I'd come to join you," said Jones, as he posed for selfies with the soon-to-be-graduating students. After nine years leading the state's flagship university, Jones said this year's graduation ceremony will be bittersweet. "I'm going to miss it with all my heart. I really am," Jones said, becoming emotional. "Well, you can't help but be emotional about a place you've grown to love." Robert Jones' legacy Jones is the first African American chancellor in the school's 158-year history. At 73, he said he felt it was time for a new challenge and would soon be taking over as president of the University of Washington. "I fundamentally believe you can stay in these jobs too short of a time to be effective. But you can also stay in them too long." Under Jones' stewardship, the University of Illinois has boosted enrollment by 26%. The student population is now nearing 60,000. "We are very proud that we had the largest class in the history of the university this past fall," said Jones. And while tuition remains stubbornly high, it's now more in line with peer universities. Jones said he's proud of his role in creating the Illinois Commitment program, which promises free tuition to any Illinois student whose family makes less than $75,000 a year. "Illinois Commitment made it possible for us to take that notion of cost off the table and send a very strong message that if you prepare yourself, you too can have an Illinois education," Jones said. Another positive under Jones' watch – Illinois' long-dormant sports programs, especially the Illini football team, have come back to life. "A lot of people don't want to acknowledge this, but that drives applications, and it drives people wanting to identify with the university," Jones said. In the 1960s, the University of Illinois gained fame as the birthplace of the fictional computer HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey." Now the university is at the forefront of real-life research and development into artifical intelligence as part of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. "As we talk about AI and the future of computing, especially as it relates to quantum computing, it runs squarely through this university," said Jones. COVID-19 at the university But there have also been challenges on Jones' watch – especially COVID-19. "It was an absolute game-changer," he said. Jones said the decision to shut down the university was hard, but they were able to go to online learning in just 10 days. And the campus was able to fully reopen the following fall, thanks to a COVID-19 test developed by U of I scientists. "And in less than six weeks, not only did they create one of the best, if not the best saliva-based COVID-19 tests in the world, it was the most sensitive and most cost-effective test," said Jones. The next chapter As he heads out the door, Jones is facing a new challenge out of Washington D.C., where the Trump administration is slashing funding to higher education for both student loan programs and universities themselves. "The impact could potentially be devastating. Not only on the students, but particularly on the research front," said Jones. "To do that research and innovation that has really made this country the envy of the rest of the world is at great risk here. And unfortunately, the part that keeps me up at night, if we lose that stellar position it's going to be exponentially more difficult to get it back. It won't happen in my lifetime." A committee is currently working to find Jones' replacement. The university said they hope to have that person in place by the beginning of the fall academic year. The Source Details for this story come from an interview with Chancellor Robert Jones.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U of I announces outgoing Chancellor Jones as commencement speaker
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Outgoing University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones has spoken at every commencement ceremony held during his tenure, but he's about to have an even bigger speaking role at this year's ceremony. He's delivering the commencement address. Outgoing U of I Chancellor announced as next President at University of Washington The university announced on Thursday that Jones, its 10th Chancellor and the second-longest tenured person in the position, will be delivering the commencement address to the Class of 2025. This will be the ninth and final class to graduate under his tenure. It was previously announced that Jones would leave Champaign-Urbana between academic years to accept the Presidency of the University of Washington, another Big Ten institution. 'It has been the honor of a lifetime to be a part of the Illinois family and truly the most profound experience of my 46 years in higher education,' Jones said in a news release. 'I can't think of a better way to draw my time as chancellor to a close than celebrating our remarkable 2025 graduates as they take what they've learned at Illinois and go on to change the world.' Jones, a native of Georgia, has his bachelor's degree in agronomy, along with a master's degree and doctorate in crop physiology. He started his academic career at the University of Minnesota in 1978 and worked there for 34 years until he became the President of the State University of New York at Albany in 2013. Three years later, Jones became the University of Illinois' Chancellor. Under his tenure, the university said, Jones, 'prioritized redefining the role of a flagship land-grant institution for the 21st century.' Illinois Commitment expands eligibility for free college to IL families He helped launch the Illinois Commitment, guaranteeing four years of free tuition to in-state students coming from families with incomes of less than $75,000, and oversaw the creation of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world's first engineering-based medical school. Jones was also faced with crises like the state budget impasse of 2015-2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the latter of which saw Illinois lead the country with research of the disease and the development of a saliva-based testing system. Other highlights of Jones' tenure include his selection by Governor Pritzker to co-chair the Innovate Illinois partnership and the launch of initiatives like the Chicago Quantum Exchange and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. 'To confront the biggest, most complex challenges of our time, we must engage new partners and rethink traditional approaches to research,' Jones said. 'These radical collaborations are ambitious, and they are how we imagine an even bigger role for a land-grant university in the 21st century.' Sitting down with UI Chancellor Robert Jones, looking back on his career in higher education In addition to his academic experience, Jones is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of both the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. The university hinted on Wednesday that Jones would be its 2025 commencement speaker by providing a few clues on social media. They mentioned his background in crop sciences, his two Grammy Awards and a few of his hobbies, like downhill skiing. More obvious clues were that he 'can be spotted frequenting Green Street in search of lunch and coffee,' and that he 'holds the record of selfies taken on the University of Illinois campus.' A few people correctly guessed Jones in the comment section based on these clues. The 2025 University of Illinois Commencement Ceremony will take place in Memorial Stadium on May 17. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
