Yale University - Banner / Pot Pourri Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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' . w ' -. ?,. .• ' , ' ;- BPNNeR POTPOURRI £ (ian 3ones fi •REDERICK SCHEETZ JONES was born in Missouri, and has been skeptical as to the value of human testimony ever since. Although quick to wrath, he will not always chide, neither wil l he keep his anger forever. A black frown on his brow is usually speedily followed by the radiant light of laughter; and his keen sense of humor fills the atmosphere with ozone. This suddenness of temperament in our beloved Dean may be astrologically accounted for by the fact that he was born in April, month of alternating clouds and sunshine. The fighting quality in the man is explained historically by the foct that he was born in 1862. Even as a boy he was never content with anything but the best, which is the chief reason why he came to Yale. In his undergraduate days he was admired and respected by both classmates and Faculty, and unlocked the most complicated wards of learning with a Phi Beta Kappa key. He was graduated B.A. with the class of 1884, and proceeded M.A. in 1891. It was while teaching at the Shattuck School, Faribault, Minnesota, that he selected one of his best pupils, Alfred K. Merritt, for especial distinction. Then and tliere began the warm friendship between these two men, which is now even more firmly cemented by their partnership in the official guidance and control of the students ol ale College. The undergraduates are fortunate indeed in having as their coun- sellors and advisers two individuals of such wisdom, experience, and human sympathy. From 1887 to 1889. Mr. Jones was in Germany, studying first at the university of Berlin and then at the Polytechnic School at Zurich. In 1 889, at a remarkably tender age for such a responsible position, he was made Professor of Physics at the University of Minnesota, and very soon became the right-hand man of President Northrup. His success in his department both as a teacher and executive officer was so signal that in 1902 he was made Dean of the College of Engineering. This department he completely reorganized, raising the standard of admission, and developing the work in every profitable direction. Among the students of the whole University he was a great personal force, his advice being sought in all extra-curriculum activities. It was owing almost entirely to his efforts that the tine new athletic field was

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mmmmm BT NNSR ' POT POURRl @(g)(S) secured ; and it was surveyed and laid out by him. For years he had the most difficult job in the management of athletics, namely, the entire control of the sale and disposition of tickets for the big football games. This he directed with a firm and constant mind, although on one occasion he was publicly mobbed. Experiences like these made him bomb-proof, and prepared him for the aggressive leadership of Yale College. These things were not done in a corner; and when Dean Wright retired, more full of honors than of years, the Academical Professors of Yale unanimously selected Frederick Jones to be his successor. Some of us know well the sacrifices the acceptance of this post forced upon Mr. Jones ; but like a good ale man, he did not hesitate long, and entered upon his duties in the summer of I 909. Great problems confronted him at New Haven. The disciplinary system of the college was to be reorganized, the relation of the Dean to the Faculty was to be changed from peerage to kingship, and the management ol Academic Funds was to undergo a revolution. Each one of these three things seemed at the time a large order; and the transition to the new regime involved some decided friction with ihree great powers — undergraduate sentiment, faculty tradition, and corporation rule. The amaz- ing pari ol the whole business, as we look back on it, is this: not only were these three somewhat violent readjustments actually carried through during the first six months of the administration of the new Dean, but in the process of change he won the hearty and loyal friendship of the Students, of the Faculty, and of the Corporation. No torrent of adjectives could pay a better tribute to the personality of Dean Jones than the narrative of the facts recorded above. The Academical Department has a real Leader. The students love and respect him, because he is on the level ; the Faculty delight to follow him, because he is a natural-born Captain ; and the President and Corporation trust him, because they know the College is in good hands, and that the Dean in working for ale College is furth- ering the real interests of Yale University. I hope it may not be considered an impertinence if I take this opportunity to render unto Mrs. Jones the tribute of admiration and respect which is her due. She was a Missouri girl, as the Dean was a Missouri boy; and together they unite the best spirit of the West with the best spirit of ale. The University and the City have heartily welcomed them both. WILLIAM L ON PHELPS. Yale College, 28. January, 191 I. ?«ffiHa ..«.-x.w v» wH»aa? ' » ' «««