50 years at Rice

Frank Jones celebrated his 50th year on the Rice faculty this fall, but who’s counting? Well, his department is, which seems appropriate since Jones is the Noah Harding Professor of Mathematics. At a recent reception to honor Jones, Mathematics Professor and Chair Brendan Hassett estimated that Jones has spent almost his entire academic life at Rice, including the years in which the alumnus worked on his 1958 B.A. degree in chemical engineering and his 1961 Ph.D. in mathematics. Hassett noted that Jones has won the George R. Brown teaching awards so many times that he was eventually given the George R. Brown Certificate of Highest Merit Award, which retired him from the competition for more Brown teaching awards. But that didn’t keep Jones from being named the 2007 Texas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Hassett said that although Rice has changed immensely since Jones joined the faculty in 1962, “the most important characteristics of Rice have remained constant: the commitment to excellent teaching, the engagement with our students as individuals and the flexibility to craft programs meeting their particular needs. Frank embodies all these, so it’s especially fitting we recognize his contributions.” Pictured: Jones (left) receives a commemorative award from Hassett at a departmental reception in honor of his milestone. (Photo by Bonnie Hausman)