Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
A professor in the College of Education since 1977, Jones was an advocate for quality education for handicapped children.
In the mid-1970s, Jones served as president of the Council for Exceptional Children, the largest special educators' group in the United States. Jones and the council played an important role in the first laws passed by Congress to protect and expand the right to equal education for children with special educational needs.
Jones began his career as a teacher in Champaign, Ill., and became Champaign County's director of special services. In 1969, he went to Indiana University to serve as the special education administration training coordinator.
Eight years later, Wayne Worner, Tech's dean of the College of Education, recruited Jones from his position as the assistant superintendent in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Worner said his colleague's extensive special education background and reputation enabled Jones to secure a large number of grants for Tech's program.
Jones' commitment to special education developed a loyal following of former students and colleagues, Worner said.
"His wife just shared with me today a newsletter that he sent out to graduates - people he'd developed close personal relationships [with], some that went back 30 years." Worner said. "He was a very special kind of graduate professor."
by CNB