Professor of Chemistry: Dr. Jesse W. Jones D.Sc.

Dr. Jesse W. Jones D.Sc.

Dr. Jones is currently a lecturer for Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry II and a Professor of Chemistry. His research has a focus on Organic Synthesis or organic compounds with biological significance within in vivo and in vitro systems.

Q. What has your experience been like as a minority within the academic circles that you have been a part of.

A. Well, just in general, it has been quite positive. I do not have any other comparisons other than my exposure in academics so together, I do not associate any stigma when that occurs.

Q. Have you seen any changes at Baylor or throughout your career?

A. With regards to Baylor, we have seen an increase in diversity both with faculty and students and staff. The overall university climate has generally changed partly. I guess some of the very strong religious symbols may have become more moderate as far as the overall environment is concerned. The quality of students seems to continue to improve each year. So there have been some positive changes that I have observed over my 30 years here at Baylor.

Academics are kind of slow to change but the directional change of Baylor is going in a positive direction. Our football season this year is kind of quality of students seems to continue to improve each year. So there have been some positive changes that I have observed over my 30 years here at Baylor.

Q. As a faculty member, when you see the increase in diversity among prehealth students and in general, how do you feel that further inclusion can be created to accommodate students of multiple backgrounds looking for a chance to earn their career in health?

A. Particularly in the sciences, we train some of the better students. The changes in special activities and programs are not needed in this area as which may be in areas because of the academic background of high caliber students that are attracted to science. In fact the activities and [programs] such as MAPS as which we watched develop, act as leaders not only in accommodating minorities but also setting the pace for other students as well. So in this area, I would say we are exemplary in terms of the success students are having and how they are coming in and making adjustments. We always expect to have some casualties, particularly in academically diverse as well as racially adverse environments. But a number of casualties are probably less than in other areas. It is consistent with the strong competitive nature of the sciences, particularly in the pre-health area.

Q. What advice would you recommend that students outside of Baylor need to hear when they are thinking of becoming pre-health students at Baylor? How can they achieve success effectively in their academics and networking?

A. Well, one of the things that Baylor is going for, particularly in the pre-health program, is that it is one of the more outstanding programs in the state. I am guessing it would be in the top 5 in most of the categories. Internally, the premed program has leadership that has developed over time to help accommodate incoming students so that should be very attractive to students knowing that the program has been well tested and proven. The products (students) that come out are probably the best kind of endorsement to the program as they go out further and practice nursing, medicine, and dentistry while showing great success. Maybe that is why we are still experiencing a very high increase in pre-medical, pre-dental, and pre-nursing students. That is probably the attracting quality and maybe that is the reason we are still experiencing a very high increase in students in pre-med, pre-dent, and beyond.

Final Regards: Dr. Jesse W. Jones

Dr. Jones is one of the longest-tenured professors here at Baylor. He has studied within the field of science for over 65 years proving that beyond undergrad, a life in science can be abundant and worthwhile. Dr. Jones has seen science evolve and change over the last 50 years. The introduction of Chemical Synthesis was groundbreaking in that it allowed researchers to synthesize naturally occurring complex chemical compounds from simpler compounds and Dr. Jones was one of the researchers working in the late 20th century to discover as many of these compounds as possible. His love for learning and teaching organic chemistry as well as being an African American in research has made him a pioneer in the community.