Agnes Jones, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point pioneer, died on Monday, April 29, 2013. She was 97.
Jones was head of the UWSP Department of Home Economics from 1956-81. At the height of her tenure, the department offered five bachelor’s degrees with nine different options, and two master’s degrees. During Jones’s tenure, home economics was upgraded from a department to a school. Her school was moved into the newly built College of Professional Studies Building; off-campus internships were established; and, over five million grant dollars were secured for special programs and equipment. The program was the first in the state and 10th in the nation to be accredited by the American Home Economics Association.
UWSP awards one scholarship in her honor to interior architecture, dietetics or family & consumer sciences students who demonstrate leadership, professional potential, ambition, academic achievement, good character, concern for others–all qualities that can be said about Jones. The gallery on the first floor of the College of Professional Studies Building is also named in her honor.
Jones is an icon of home economics at UWSP and her influence will be part of us forever. A memorial is being planned in for late May or early June.