Intrepid, innovative and inspiring describe Jesse Jones, the first person to receive a PhD in chemistry from Arizona State University, in 1963.

Following his own successful academic career, Jones became a dedicated professor, helping to increase the number of minority students who when on to graduate school and medical school. Jesse Jones, ASU's first chemistry PhD recipient. Photos courtesy ASU's School of Molecular Sciences and Jesse Jones Download Full Image

This month, Jones was honored by a citywide group of ministers in his hometown of Dallas, Texas, who presented him with the Milton K. Curry education award.

A leap of faith

Jones came to ASU in 1958, invited by Roland K. Robbins, upon learning ASU would soon have new doctoral degrees. Married with three children at the time, Jones initially lived with his family in on-campus housing but had to move when it was torn down to make room for the construction of Gammage Auditorium.

Renting off-campus housing proved to be a challenge. After being denied housing multiple times in Tempe because of being Black, Jones and his wife took a “vacation” and went back to Texas with their children while he searched for a place to live so he could complete his education. Eventually, in faith, they packed up their car and headed back to Arizona, not knowing where they would live.

“We left east Texas without a place to stay,” Jones recalled. “At the time, we had three children. ... We were in contact with a realtor, and, as a graduate student, needed a place to stay with no money down. On the drive back, we would stop along the way and call the real estate agent, and he told us to come and there would be a place for us to stay. So on his word, we drove on and he showed us a place in Phoenix that became our home while I finished my degree at ASU.”

At ASU, Jones’ research focused on the chemistry of purines, which was an exciting area in organic chemistry at the time. After earning his PhD in 1963, Jones moved to Tyler, Texas, where he taught undergraduate chemistry at Texas College, a historically Black college.

The highlight of a career

Although he knew his research would suffer from his decision to move back to Texas, Jones felt it important to help others.

“The first hot plate we had was an old waffle iron,” Jones remembers of this time teaching at Texas College.

“Not having any graduate students was also a challenge. The work that we did was with undergraduates. In spite of that, we were funded by several grants, which allowed us to continue our research.

“We discovered that our students who went on to graduate school did much better in their research because of the scarcity of materials and the creativity they had to use out of necessity. At times, we would have to drive 100 miles from Tyler to Dallas in order to get chemicals. Things were not prepared and handed to our students, and that gave them an edge in terms of their research capability.”

Jones estimates that, at the time, they likely had more Black women majoring in chemistry than other major institutions around the country. Additionally, he helped to increase the number of minority students who when on to graduate school and medical school, which he considers to be a significant accomplishment.

“The success of my students is the highlight of my career,” Jones said, “because they would go on and transform their communities.”

Commitment to serving others

Community and family have been constant themes throughout Jones’ life.

“We had a philosophy that because our students came from disadvantaged areas, and at that time our children were getting old enough to begin thinking about college, we chose to live right in the community with similar conditions to the students we taught. If I should have expectations of my students to succeed, from whatever their backgrounds, the same conditions and expectations should be good enough for my children as well,” he said.

Jones and his wife had a total of seven children, and his devotion to chemistry and education can be seen in their lives. Six of their children majored in chemistry, and he had the privilege of teaching all six of them. Out of those six, two are physicians, two are college professors, one works for Exxon Mobil and one went into psychology. The seventh also has a successful career in real estate.

Jones continued his professional career at Bishop College from 1967 through 1988, where he was principal investigator on several projects, including the National Institutes of Health Minority Biomedical Research Program and a Department of Defense Contract involving the preparation of potential antimalarial drugs. Jones was the director of the Minority Institution Science Improvement Program and chair of the Division of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at Bishop College. In 1988, hired by Baylor University, Jones continued as a professor of chemistry until his retirement in 2021.

In addition to a fruitful academic career, Jones spent 15 years as an elected official in the Texas House of Representatives, where he provided leadership in his community, including on issues related to higher education.

“Successes in government are shared,” Jones said. “We had many successes over the years. I’m proud to have been the House sponsor for the creation of a state-supported school between Dallas and Austin, which became the University of North Texas at Dallas in 2009.”

An enduring example

Throughout his life, Jones has felt that he needed to take his share of the load by setting an example, whether with regard to civil rights, education or in his community. Jones has been an active member of Good Street Baptist Church since 1968, where he still uses his skills as a teacher. His oldest student is 107; some are in their 90s, and “a few youngsters” are in their 80s.

After receiving the Milton K. Curry education award this month, Jones reflected on the enduring importance of good teachers.

“Whatever success I’ve enjoyed is because I was given strong mentors throughout my career,” Jones said. “They set an example for me early in my career, nurtured me, and saw hope and promise. Students today need the same. They need someone they can look up to and admire.”

In celebration of Black History Month, the Arizona State University orchestras and DBR Lab will collaborate on a concert celebrating both contemporary and historical contributions made by Black composers.

The “Reflections of Hope” concert features spoken word, dance and music by the ASU Chamber Orchestra, Herberger Associate and Institute Professor Daniel Bernard Roumain, soprano and School of Music, Dance and Theatre MM alumna Yophi Adia Bost, MFA dance student Alecea Housworth and DMA conducting students Josef Sieber and Kara Piatt. The “Reflections of Hope” concert features spoken word, dance and music by ASU Herberger Associate and Institute Professor Daniel Bernard Roumain. Photo courtesy Daniel Bernard Roumain Download Full Image

The program includes Jessie Montgomery’s “I Want to Go Home,” a traditional Black spiritual set in a hybrid Gregorian chant/spiritual style, Quinn Mason’s moving “Reflections on a Memorial,” Julius Eastman’s minimalist masterpiece “Joy Boy,” Roumain’s ode to the civil rights work of Rosa Parks “Isorhythmiclationistic” and a premiere arrangement of Roumain’s powerful “They Still Want to Kill Us,” commemorating the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. There will be a post-concert discussion to conclude the evening.

“Although there is trauma referenced in the works we are performing, there is also hope, strength, solidarity and love,” said Jeffery Meyer, director of ASU Orchestras.

“‘Reflections of Hope’ is a uniquely collaborative event for our musicians,” Piatt said. “In cultivating this concert, we wanted to give the musicians opportunities to be involved in all aspects of the program. The sharing of perspectives at the heart of this concert with the musicians coordinates directly with the themes presented by the music — the desire to share experiences, to educate, to search for new possibilities in society and culture, and, most importantly, to connect with each other across all boundaries.”

Roumain’s work as a composer, performer, educator and activist spans more than three decades. Known for his signature violin sounds infused with electronic and African American music influences, he is a composer of chamber, orchestral and operatic works.  

“As a Black, Haitian American composer, I think about those liminal spaces where I feel my full, creative self,” Roumain said. “That space is ever-changing, between my body, emotions and dreams. I suspect there’s a liminal space between each of these works (performed) and the composers who wrote them, expressing power, pain, sexual identity, justice and injustice, freedom, life and death, and joy. And I can feel that the liminal space between all the contributors (students) on the program, the ASU Orchestra program and my own work as a collaborator with them is one of safety, security and trust.” 

Roumain has won an Emmy for Outstanding Musical Composition for his collaborations with ESPN; recently scored the film “Ailey” (directed by Jamila Wignot), which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival; scored “The Just and The Blind,” a collaboration with spoken word artist and writer Marc Bamuthi Joseph that was commissioned by Carnegie Hall; and is about to premiere a new work for the Lyric Opera of Chicago called “Proximity: The Walkers” in collaboration with the acclaimed actor/writer Anna Deavere Smith.

DBR Lab, founded by Roumain, is a class, collective and experience where individual ideas and group collaborations form a singular space where artists and audiences can engage and contribute. The Lab operates in close collaboration with DBR Music Productions and SOZO Artists, and is in residence at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.

“Watching and listening to all of the contributors (students) engaged in the hard work of performing work by American composers who have been, and are still struggling to be seen and heard on our stages is a reminder of what makes our ASU Chamber Orchestra necessary, vibrant and vital — young people making music, message, magic and meaning together,” Roumain said.

ASU Chamber Orchestra Strings:
“Reflections of Hope and Home”
7:30 p.m., Feb. 27
Organ Hall
Free admission

Tempe, Arizona-based volunteer organization Local to Global Justice is excited to be returning to Arizona State University for their 22nd Annual Forum and Festival, an event that includes a weekend of workshops, spoken word performances, live music and keynote speakers, along with a community solidarity action focused on energizing justice.

This event, sponsored by ASU's School of Social Transformation, the Graduate and Professional Student Association, the Undergrad Student Government (USG) and private donations, will be held Feb. 24–25 at a new location from past years: Ross-Blakley Hall and Armstrong Hall on the Tempe campus. The event is open to the public and offers free healthy food, including a vegan Navajo feast on Friday night and catering from Green New American Vegetarian on Saturday for lunch. The Local to Global Justice "Energizing Justice" event will take place Feb. 24–25 on ASU's Tempe campus. Photo courtesy Local to Global Justice Download Full Image

“This annual free event has long provided a welcoming space to bring community activists together with students and others on campus,” says Beth Blue Swadener, a co-founder and an organizer of the event for the past two decades and professor emeritus at the School of Social Transformation. 

This year’s theme is "Energizing Justice." Students, community members and education leaders alike are encouraged to register for the free event for Friday and Saturday.

“This event focuses on both how to energize activists for the many different social justice issues facing us today, but also how energy systems are transforming our collective relationships to the natural and human-built world, from complex geopolitical issues, like the war in Ukraine, to local renewable energy efforts,” says Jennifer Richter, co-director of the event and an assistant professor in both the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Social Transformation. 

The forum and festival begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening, Feb. 24, at Armstrong Hall Rotunda with a free Navajo vegan feast catered by Mario Etsitty and a musical performance by the talented duo Carmen and Zarco Guerrero. There will be storytelling and poetry performances by Joy Young, a spoken word artist and current graduate student in the justice studies program. The evening will come to a close with an open mic where attendees are encouraged to share their own poems and stories with the community.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, the day begins at 9:30 a.m. with registration, snacks and a chance to visit some of the many community group tables. Panel presentations from scholar-activists and community activists get underway at 10 a.m. in the Ross Blakley Hall and Armstrong Hall.

Youth activists will also be in abundance at this year's forum and festival, with a youth-led keynote panel scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, as well as a youth workshop and tabling for several organizations that will feature local and statewide student activists.  

The youth-led keynote panel, “Activism without the Binary,” will feature Ledge (Flagstaff), and Dawn Shim and Kanix Gallo of Support Equality AZ Schools, based in Chandler. This group has organized a protest at Chandler City Hall, school walkouts and, most recently, a demonstration at the state capitol in protest of anti-trans legislation.

Panel members describe their discussion by noting that “as community justice movements often revolve around and impact young people the most, we as young people have become a rallying cry for progression. Alongside sweeping national and local movements, young people have always emerged as a tapestry of lived experiences with a connecting thread of optimism.

"This panel, with a collaboration between the high school student-run initiative Support Equality AZ Schools and young queer visionaries, will unpack pervasive assumptions regarding the binaries that we build around ourselves and our advocacy, which reflect black-and-white thinking and generalizations. Through a collaborative and interactive discussion, we will envision a structure of people-driven advocacy that swaps the binaries for a spectrum.”

Interactive afternoon workshops include “Sacred Earth: Common Ground Storytelling,” “Community-led science: Building an open-source 'virtual nose' to detect ambient pollutants,” “Students Are Our NOW, Not Only Our Futures,” and “Becoming JustBodies: Exploring Abolition and Emancipation through Play and Creative Expression.”

“Students are our NOW, not only our futures” will be facilitated by Hayden Nguyen from Support Equality AZ Schools. When asked about the workshop, Hayden said, “Young people are at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues in America today. This is especially apparent within queer and trans justice movements, in which young LGBTQ folk are not only hit by legislative blows but also within intersectional issues of poverty, mental health and reproductive justice. Yet there is a disproportionate lack of visibility of young people at the table weighing into decisions that we are on the front lines of. As a community initiative entirely organized, run and operated by high schoolers for other young people, we will explore venues of youth-directed, people-driven change and the history of institutional powers that have made it difficult to do so.”

A free vegan lunch on Saturday will be catered by Green New American Vegetarian while Walt Richardson will offer song and storytelling stylings in the Armstrong Rotunda, with Bobby Johnson DJ’ing through lunch as well. The event includes a plenary panel at 1 p.m. in Armstrong Hall L1-30 and ends with workshops focused on skill-sharing and hands-on experiences. The keynote panel this year features:

• Jen Richter, a scholar-activist and professor in the School of Social Transformation and School for the Future of Innovation in Society, who will give an overview of the idea of energy justice and socio-energy design.

• Mariia Vitrukh, a doctoral candidate in education policy and evaluation at ASU, who will be discussing how Ukrainians are managing their daily lives in the midst of war.

• Jorge Morales, a PhD student from the School of Sustainability, who will be discussing his research on energy transitions in Mexico, with a focus on Indigenous communities, as well as his volunteer work with Chispa. Morales is also a former student leader of Local to Global Justice.
  

• Nora Timmerman, a teacher-scholar, parent, organizer, gardener, dancer and desert rat who works as an associate teaching professor in sustainable communities at Northern Arizona University, who will be speaking about ecological justice and scholarly activism.

Attendees are welcome to bring nonperishable food items and personal care products for donation to the mutual aid group NOURISHPhoenix on either day of the event. More detailed program information, registration and background on Local to Global Justice and its past events are available on their website at www.localtoglobal.org. Donations are welcomed to help ensure that this program remains free and open to the public for years to come.