(1931-1966)
Howard W. Jones was born on September 25, 1895 in Palmyra, Ohio. He graduated from Hiram College in 1920 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his Master's degree from Western Reserve University in 1938. In 1943, Jones was granted an honorary doctorate of pedagogy from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.
During World War I, Jones served in the U. S. Navy, where he was assigned to a minesweeper in the Atlantic. After the Armistice was signed in 1918, Jones worked as an athletic trainer and coach, a school principal, then as an assistant to the President of Hiram College.
In 1931, Jones was named Director of Youngstown College by the Youngstown YMCA. In 1935, the YMCA Board of Trustees changed his title to “President”. In this capacity, Jones oversaw the recruiting of faculty, the physical expansion of the campus (starting with the construction of the Main Building, later renamed Jones Hall in his honor), the creation of the Youngstown College football team, and the transformation of the college into The Youngstown University. Jones retired in 1966 and died in Youngstown on February 25, 1982 at the age of 86.
For more information about President Jones, please contact the University Archives.