Professor Emeritus James E. Jones Jr. of the UW Law School has been honored with the creation of the James E. Jones Award by the UW-Madison Chancellor’s Scholarship Program. The award will be conferred each year on a graduating senior in the program who has experienced great adversity and succeeded in overcoming it.

The Chancellor’s Scholarship was established in 1984 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to increase educational opportunities for academically talented students from under-represented ethnic minorities or culturally disadvantaged circumstances.

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Mercile Lee, Director of the privately-funded Chancellor’s Scholarship Program, comments, "We were delighted to establish this award in Professor Jones’s honor. He has been a strong supporter of the program since its establishment in 1984, both financially and otherwise. I’ve always invited him to do fireside chats with the students because of who he is as a person and his contribution to the establishment of affirmative action at the federal level."

Lee adds, "Jim has been an excellent role model when he comes and shares his story: here is a man who has overcome tremendous odds and adversity, and never allowed it to define him."

The award also recognizes Jones’s work with the university administration throughout the years. "Professor Jones has been a premier adviser to all our chancellors," Lee says.

Submitted by on October 15, 2008

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