Chancellor Jones announced his tenure will end next June in a Massmail on Wednesday morning.
Jones is the University’s 10th chancellor and has served for almost nine years, the longest in the University’s history since the first chancellor. Although he said it was a difficult decision, he feels it is the right time to step down.
“But choosing the best time to step away from a job and a university community I truly love is an entirely different thing,” Jones said in the Massmail. “I really believe this is the right time to begin the transition to find the next chancellor of this great university.”
Jones took office in September 2016 after serving as president of the State University of New York.
“When I joined the Illinois family in 2016, I knew I was coming to an outstanding public university with an impossibly long list of discoveries, inventions and world-changing ideas,” Jones said. “What I did not know was that it would also be the most profound experience of my career in higher education.”
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Jones spoke on some challenges the University has faced during his tenure as chancellor, including the state’s budget crisis and the pandemic. He emphasized the resilience of the campus community.
“But it has been in these most difficult moments when I have gotten to see the strength of character of the students, faculty and staff who choose to call this university their home,” Jones said. “I am extremely proud of what I have seen you all accomplish, together, even when it seemed like everyone else in the world was telling you it was impossible.”
As chancellor, Jones helped introduce the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the first engineering-centric medical school in the world, and the Illinois Commitment, which guarantees four years of free tuition for in-state students whose families make under $67,100. Effective fall 2025, the threshold will be raised to $75,000.
Jones expressed his gratitude and said serving as chancellor has been a great privilege in his parting words.
“I am so very grateful to all of you over the past eight years who have shown me patience, enlightened me, extended me grace and helped me truly understand what it means to be a member of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign family,” Jones said. “Thank you for letting me be a part of your Illinois experience.”
