Remembering Larry

Larry G. Jones, Senior Public Service Associate Emeritus, died on April 2, 2013, after a long illness. A recipient of the Distinguished Membership Award of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), he served on the AIR Board of Directors and chaired numerous AIR committees. A past president of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR), he was awarded Distinguished Membership and was the recipient of the James R. Montgomery Outstanding Service Award. He served as the IHE liaison for the SAIR/IHE Institutional Research Alliance and was the editor of SAIRendipity, an electronic and print op-ed column and the editor/manager of SAIRMAIL, an electronic message service of SAIR.

Dr. Jones came to IHE in 1991 from the University of Georgia Office of Institutional Research, where he edited the UGA Fact Book (1975-1990) and conducted admissions, student, and academic program research. Previously, he was the dean of Midland Lutheran College and served as assistant provost and director of Institutional Research at Wittenberg University.

Perhaps one of the best compliments paid to Larry in recent days has come from a former president of SAIR: “His easy smile and sense of humor made it easy for folks to feel comfortable with him quickly, and his Southern ‘style’ was a true gift. Larry was an innovative thinker about the practice of institutional research and how that function could help institutions of higher education.” His contributions were indeed many and, as a transplanted Minnesotan, Larry would surely enjoy being complimented on his Southern style!