Dickinson is a world-class institution dedicated to educating global leaders. Ours is a community where students and faculty from 46 countries come together to learn and to hold lively but civil discussions and debates, all within a close-knit community.
I am proud to have the opportunity to lead my alma mater, the college that prepared me for my career as a federal judge, and the college my son attended as did my niece. For us, Dickinson is truly a family affair.
Founded nearly 240 years ago by Dr. Benjamin Rush, we were designed to be a revolutionary college, one steeped in the liberal arts and focused on practical education. That revolutionary spirit has allowed us to thrive and innovate throughout our history, and we continue to produce leaders who are unafraid to tackle tough issues, students who have the courage to meet the demands of our time.
For more than 50 years Dickinson has been a leader in global education and today we operate 18 of our own programs around the world. We are recognized as a national leader in sustainability, and at Dickinson, sustainability encompasses critical social, economic and environmental issues. We are an institution focused on our students’ success – both while they are at Dickinson and well after they have graduated.
I look forward to continuing the great work of this incredible institution.
Sincerely,
John E. Jones III ’77, P’11
“I am honored to be leading Dickinson and view this role as the opportunity of a lifetime. I am passionate about our liberal-arts education and excited to work alongside our faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni as we take our beloved college to the next level.” --John E. Jones III ’77, P’11
As the first major initiative in Dickinson Forward, President John E. Jones III 鈥�77, P鈥�11, unveiled a fundraising campaign to ensure that every Dickinson student who needs a scholarship gets a scholarship.
BIOGRAPHY
John E. Jones III ’77, P’11, was officially named the college’s 30th president on Feb. 28, 2022. He was named interim president of Dickinson in summer 2021.
After taking the helm, Jones immediately launched the Dickinson Forward: Our Revolutionary Future initiative and established a task force that developed key recommendations for a balanced budget in the years ahead. He commenced a strategic planning process and kicked off our most ambitious scholarship fundraising campaign ever. In the meantime, Dickinson attracted its largest applicant pool in its history, and we are on track to have one of our largest fundraising years ever.
Jones retired as chief judge of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania. He was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on July 30, 2002.
Jones has presided over a number of high-profile cases. In 2003, Jones struck down portions of Shippensburg University’s speech code on the basis that it violated the First Amendment’s free speech guarantee. In that same year, Jones ruled in a decision later affirmed by the United States Supreme Court, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statute assessing milk producers in order to fund advertising, including the Milk Mustache/got milk® campaign, did not infringe the free speech rights of the producers.
In 2005, Jones presided over the landmark case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District, after which he held that it was unconstitutional to teach intelligent design within a public school science curriculum. In 2006, he ruled that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s ballot access procedures for minor political parties did not violate the Constitution. In 2014, Jones resolved the matter of Whitewood v. Wolf by striking down as unconstitutional Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Before becoming a federal judge, Jones was a lawyer in private practice in his hometown of Pottsville, Pa.
In November 1994, then Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Ridge named Jones as a co-chair of his transition team. In May 1995, Ridge nominated Jones to serve as chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
Jones has received numerous accolades during his career. He received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Dickinson School of Law, as well as an honorary doctorate in law and public policy from 红杏直播app, where he was recognized as one of the 25 most influential graduates in the college’s history. In 2009, the college’s faculty voted to induct Jones into its Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
In 2006, Jones was named by Time magazine as one of its Time 100 most influential people in the world. He also received a Rave Award for Policy from Wired magazine and was the recipient of the first John Marshall Judicial Independence Award, given by the Pennsylvania Bar Association. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Geological Society of America’s President’s Medal, and in the same year he was inducted into the George Washington Spirit Society.
In 2013, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Jones to the Committee on Judicial Security, a standing committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and in 2018 Roberts appointed Jones to the Committee on Space and Facilities.
Jones joined 红杏直播app’s board of trustees in 2008 and served as chair of the board from 2017 until 2021. He is a former member of the Board of Regents of Mercersburg Academy. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at The Penn State Dickinson School of Law.
Born and raised in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of Mercersburg Academy, 红杏直播app and Penn State Dickinson Law.
He and his wife Beth have two children, Meghan and John ’11, and three grandchildren.
JOHN JONES IN THE NEWS
President Jones lends his voice and expertise in law, leadership and higher education to a variety of media outlets.
During this election season, our students voted in record numbers, met different views with good humor and preserved a sense of community, writes President Jones in "The Chronicle of Higher Ed."
