NASHVILLE, TN — Professor Jones the eleventh dean of Duke Divinity School and a theologian whose work centers on the nature of forgiveness, the significance of Christian ministry and pastoral leadership, and social innovation and entrepreneurship. He has served as Duke’s chief international strategist to advance and coordinate the university’s global engagement. In his current tenure as Dean, he has strengthened the Divinity School’s financial trajectory, diversified the faculty and staff, and led a strategic planning process that has garnered great enthusiasm for the school’s future, all while setting new records for gifts to the Annual Fund and to the Divinity School overall
Dr. Jones brings more than 30 years of higher education experience as a faculty member, administrator, consultant, and strategist. An exceptional scholar, tremendous communicator, and strategic thinker, he will bring great imagination and energy to his role and will cultivate a dynamic, thriving culture that continues to focus on student success. Most importantly, as a devoted Christian and ordained minister, Jones will ensure Belmont’s ecumenical Christian identity endures and is strengthened in the years to come.
Jones is the author or editor of seventeen books, and has published more than 200 articles and essays. His most recent book is Christian Social Innovation: Renewing Wesleyan Witness (Abingdon Press, May 2016). He co-authored the book Forgiving As We’ve Been Forgiven with Celestin Musekura and another book with Kevin R. Armstrong, Resurrecting Excellence: Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry.
Jones is married to the Rev. Dr. Susan Pendleton Jones, who has served as a campus minister, a local church pastor, and as a senior administrator at Duke Divinity School. Currently, she is working as a consultant to the bishop’s office of the United Methodist Church in North Carolina.