Edwin Channing Jones

Edwin C. Jones, Jr. left this life peacefully on March 10, 2026, at his home at Boutwells Landing in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota.

Ed was born June 27, 1934, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the son of Edwin C. Jones, Sr. and Helen M. [Sterrett] Jones. Both his parents were members of the faculty at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and their influence guided him to a lifetime devoted to education. Ed believed that education is more than knowledge and that people have the ability to use knowledge to improve our world, regardless of discipline.

Ed attended West Virginia University, from which he graduated with a B.S. with High Honors in Electrical Engineering - the same department in which his father taught. He was selected for a Rotary Foundation Fellowship, which enabled him to study for a year at the Imperial College of the University of London. While there, he worked under the guidance of Dennis Gabor, a Nobel Prize Laureate. He served for two years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, stationed at Misawa Air Force Base in Japan. After leaving the Army, he entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois, where he received his Ph.D.

In 1958, he met the love of his life, Ruth Carol Miller, at the Wesleyan Student Center at the University of Illinois. They were married on a hot day in August 1960 in the First United Methodist Church in her hometown, Lincoln, Illinois. Ed and Ruth remained devoted to each other until his passing.

In 1966, Ed joined the faculty at Iowa State University in Ames. He became a full Professor in 1972 and was given the title of University Professor in 1995. Ed served as Associate Department Head. He led the engineering program's distance education activity for 15 years. He also led a university-wide program called "Technology and Social Change." Ed was especially proud of his service as academic advisor for Honors Program students, in which he worked with gifted students to help them develop their abilities and to challenge them. He spoke often of the accomplishments of Honors Program graduates that he had advised.

Ed was a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and held many leadership positions in those organizations. Through his service, he assisted in the evaluation of electrical engineering programs at universities all over the world. He became an internationally known expert in accreditation and served as an engineering education consultant for scores of electrical engineering programs in the U.S. and overseas.

Ed was devoted to his faith, family, and community. He and Ruth were members of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Ames from 1966 to 2005. Ed served on the Session and was the Church treasurer for many years. After their move to Minnesota, Ed and Ruth became members of North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul. He served as the President of the Ames School Board. He was a member of the Ames Kiwanis Club and the Stillwater Rotary Club.

As a child, Ed read and re-read Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels, which helped instill in him a lifelong love for travel. He visited more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. He fondly remembered his trip on the Queen Mary to England in 1955, crossing the Pacific on propeller planes, crossing the Atlantic on the Concorde, a round-the-world trip in the 1980s, seeing Petra in Jordan, a train trip across the Canadian Rockies, trips to Ghost Ranch and Snow Mountain Ranch with the family, a six-week-long trip to Europe with the family in 1974, a drive to Alaska, and his times interacting with other education professionals at conferences and events around the world. Ed's other hobbies included collecting slide rules, photography, and woodworking.

In 2005, Ed and Ruth left their long-time home in Ames to move to the Twin Cities area, where their children lived. He accepted an offer to join the faculty of the University of St. Thomas as the 3M Thwaits Fellow and Adjunct Professor. He and Ruth became very active at Boutwells Landing. Among other things, Ed worked on a project to record other residents' accounts of their lives.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents and his sisters Eleanor K. Jones and Harriet Camden [Jones] White. 

He is survived by his beloved wife Ruth, son Charles (Therese Marso), daughter Helene Anderson, daughter Cathleen Hickman (Greg), and five grandchildren.

A celebration of Ed's life will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026, at 10:00 A.M. (visitation) and 11:00 A.M. (service) at North Presbyterian Church, 2675 Highway 36 E, North St. Paul, MN 55109. Lunch will follow the service.