URBANA – After nearly ten years as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Robert Jones has accepted a new role as President of the University of Washington.
The announcement was made Monday afternoon by University of Illinois System President Timothy Killeen.
“Robert has been an incredible colleague, dedicated leader and trusted friend. Please join me in congratulating him and wishing him the very best in this new role,” wrote Killeen.
Jones announced in November 2024 that he would resign as Chancellor. Since joining the school in 2016, Jones navigated the campus through a two-year state budget impasse and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the university created a saliva COVID-19 test for students, staff and faculty that was later distributed statewide. Jones bragged about the innovation during a February 2022 interview with Illinois Public Media News.
“Well, I take great pride in saying that, you know, relative to our peers, and most places, we know, we have the most effective COVID-19 mitigation ecosystem of any place in the country. And I would go so far as to say, anyplace in the world. Again, it’s been data-driven, it’s been driven by the best information we can get from all those critical external experts in our own experts. And you combine that with this ‘best in class’ saliva-based COVID-19 testing ecosystem, that not only gives you a quick and timely response to whether you COVID, positive or negative,” said Jones.
Jones came to UIUC in 2016 from SUNY Albany. He is a native of Georgia, a parent, and a grandparent. He earned multiple advanced degrees in crop physiology. He spent more than three decades as a faculty member of the University of Minnesota.
He’s also a Grammy award winner. Jones was a vocalist in the gospel ensemble The Sounds of Blackness. The group had many hit records, including the 1991 song ‘Optimistic.’
In 2022, Jones told IPM News that leading UIUC through the pandemic made him optimistic.
“COVID-19 has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced in my life… March 12 [2020] was the day I sent everybody home to do study remotely. But I’ve remained optimistic because I know that is my granny used to say ‘this is something we’re going through, not going to’ there will be a brighter day at the end of this. And hopefully, the lessons learned from these trials and tribulations will make us a better society, one that is more willing to understand that we’re in this together and the benefits of hanging together as a community that we can tackle almost anything,” said Jones.