WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - The Secretary of the Air Force has appointed Dr. Walter Jones as the Air Force Institute of Technology’s new chancellor and director beginning in June 2021. He replaces Dr. Todd Stewart who retired in March.
Before joining the AFIT team, Jones was the executive director of the Rice University National Security Research Accelerator providing strategic leadership focused on all aspects of national security research and development, including defense, energy, international cooperation, and science and technology policy.
Jones has significant experience within government and academia. He served as the executive director of the Office of Naval Research responsible for planning and managing a $3 billion science and technology program for the Navy and the Marine Corps. He was the director of plans and programs at the Air Force Research Laboratory and the director of aerospace and materials sciences at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Born and raised in Anderson, S.C., Jones earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, a Master of Science degree in engineering mechanics, and a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Clemson University. He also earned a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Ft. Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. and a certificate in legislative studies from the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.
Jones is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the Thomas Green Clemson Academy of Engineers at Clemson.