An established scholarly leader in higher education who values collaboration, people, interdisciplinarity, and commitment to excellence. Currently the Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center at NC State University. Former director of the largest dedicated materials characterization facility in the Southeastern U.S., the Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF). The STEPS Center is an NSF Science and Technology Center (STC), established in 2021. STEPS integrates diverse disciplinary contributions from across nine institutions along with stakeholder groups to address wicked challenges in phosphorus sustainability that span seventeen orders of magnitude in length scale. STEPS promotes a convergence research approach, creating novel research structures and processes to integrate knowledge, expertise, and methods. STEPS produces fundamental science necessary to control, recover, reuse, and manage phosphorus in novel and sustainable ways and trains cohorts of scholars who will contribute innovations to other societal grand challenges requiring convergence research.Jones’ research and education interests span materials characterization, crystallography, nanotechnology, and functional materials. He and his team are globally recognized for their application of advanced X-ray and neutron scattering tools for in situ characterization of materials, for example during application of thermal, electrical, and other environmental loads. Jones has created and managed inter-institutional research projects from several federal and non-profit agencies and has led multiple interdisciplinary research initiatives. Jones values quality teaching, advising, and undergraduate research and training experiences. Jones is a Fellow of the IEEE Society and the American Ceramic Society and a University Faculty Scholar at NC State. Jones has received numerous awards including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NSF CAREER, an HHMI Mentor Award, and the NC State College of Engineering George H. Blessis Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Award. In 2019, Jones received the NC State Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award and was inducted into the NC State Research Leadership Academy, the faculty-driven epicenter of research leadership and faculty mentoring at NC State.