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Technology Expert Anita Jones To Speak At U.Va.'S Fall
Convocation September 26, 2000 -- Anita K. Jones, former director of the Pentagon's multibillion-dollar research program and University Professor of Computer Science, will deliver the University of Virginia's annual Fall Convocation address on Oct. 13. Fall Convocation will be held at 2 p.m. on the Lawn. Joining the faculty in 1988, Jones forged a top-notch computer science research program while serving as department chair for five years. Jones recently was named by Gov. James S. Gilmore to the state-wide Virginia Research and Technology Commission, designed to attract federal and industry research dollars to Virginia. For the past year she has led the work of U.Va.'s Science and Technology Planning Commission, a subcommittee of Virginia 2020, that will provide a blueprint for future growth at the University. Jones interrupted her academic career to become the Department of Defense's director of science and technology program from 1993 to 1997. In that position she had oversight responsibility for the entire science and technology program of the U.S. Department of Defense (about $35 billion annually). She is the first computer scientist (and the first woman) to hold that prestigious position. She has always been concerned with the health of science and engineering research in the United States, and at the Department of Defense she made vast improvements in the national infrastructure necessary to perform that research. She has devoted 15 years of combined service on the Air Force Science Advisory Board and the Defense Science Board, the latter being the most senior of the external advisory bodies to the U.S. Department of Defense. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering Sciences and author or co-author of 37 scientific papers and the editor of two books. Jones, one of the first female Ph.D.'s in the nation in computer science, received her doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University. She received her B.A. from Rice University and earned a masters of arts from the University of Texas-Austin. CONVOCATION CEREMONIES The 2 p.m. Lawn ceremony, which officially opens Family Weekend, will honor undergraduate students for their academic excellence. Students will be awarded Intermediate Honors in acknowledgement that they've earned grade-point averages of 3.4 or higher during their first two years at U.Va. The Thomas Jefferson Award, given annually to a member of the University community who exemplifies in character and achievements the ideals of U.Va.'s founder, also will be presented. Family Weekend at U.Va. also includes the University Forum, a public address by President John T. Casteen III on the state of the University, followed by a question and answer session. The forum will take place Saturday, Oct. 14, on the South Lawn from 9:30 to 11 a.m. In the event of rain, convocation will take place in University Hall. Rain site for the forum is Old Cabell Hall. Contact: Katherine Jackson, (804) 924-3629 |
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