![]() “One was to prove to myself that I could do it, and the other was to show that black people can get Ph.D.’s too. After that, he decided to separate from active duty and went into the Air Force reserves to focus on earning a Ph.D. His job was to keep track of enemy weapon systems from an Air Force perspective then figure out how they could be countered if used against the U.S.ĭuring that time, Jones began attending night school and obtained two master’s degrees from the University of Dayton. Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk in Afghanistan, 2003Īfter graduation, Jones began working in the Foreign Technology Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio as a systems analyst on foreign ballistic missile and space systems. ![]() Since Georgia Tech was a public school, it was more representative of the country in general and that actually helped me later in my career.” “Black, white, brown, some folks that were really rich, others that were middle class like me, and also people that were from overseas. “I was able to interact with many different people,” said Jones. While at Tech, Jones was able to find support groups through his fellow classmates in aerospace engineering, cadets in ROTC, fellow members of the National Society of Black Engineers, and his teammates from intramural sports. “Plus, I wanted to prove to myself and my family that I could do it.” “I was highly motivated because I had to keep a 3.0 GPA or I would lose my scholarship and there was no real fallback,” said Jones. He chose Georgia Tech because he was interested in aerospace engineering, plus Tech had a prominent Air Force ROTC program which would partially fund his tuition through an ROTC scholarship that he acquired. Born and raised in Havre de Grace, Maryland, he would become the first member of his family to go to college right after high school. When planning for life after high school, it became clear to Jones that he had to pay his own way through college. Jones (center) and fellow ROTC members during the AFROTC Dinner Banquet held in 1986. ![]() Jones (AE 1986) was recognized by the National Academy of Engineering for his leadership of defense logistics, sustainment, training, and system readiness in support of the U.S national security. But all of his achievements resulted from taking advantages of opportunities. Jones proudly poses with his family and the Reck during the 2015 Georgia Tech Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni awards ceremony where he was honored.
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