Troy University chair receives Malone Award

Jones (center right) holds the Malone Award, University Relations photo

A prestigious award was recently given to one department chair, a surprise deserving of celebration.

Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Dr. Jacqueline D. Jones was awarded Troy University’s Wallace D. Malone, Jr. Distinguished Faculty Award at Troy’s annual faculty convocation.

Jones said she was equally shocked and grateful to receive the award.

“Receiving the award was an honor,” Jones said. “I was excited and very grateful because I got the award by doing something that I love to do.

“I love mentoring students, teaching and doing research, so the award really encompasses all the things that I already love to do. It was an honor, and I was extremely grateful.”

Along with teaching at Troy, Jones is also the director of the Center for Biomedical Sciences and runs a research lab. They research prostate cancer, specifically the bone, and how the bone contributes to aggressive or advanced stages of prostate cancer.

In her time at Troy, Jones has been awarded over a million dollars in grant funding. Jones said the funding she receives from awards and grants goes directly to support research and invest in students.

“[The funding] supports students, whether it is through paying their full tuition or for research, giving them a stipend every month or covering their travel,” Jones said.

Jones also advocates for students to be knowledgeable about the various aspects of their future careers, and said academia has taught her the importance of delayed gratification.

“The physicians, scientists, veterinarians, pharmacists, educators and other professionals we are preparing today do not become leaders overnight,” Jones said. “They take time to cultivate.

“Their development requires patience, encouragement, mentorship, accountability, and countless moments of investment that may seem small at the time but ultimately help shape who they become, and they are absolutely worth the wait.”

Jones said students do not necessarily leave Troy with their final job or career already in hand, but that it's not always the biggest goal as an educator.

“Our responsibility is to equip students to confidently move into the next phase of their journey, whether that is medical school, veterinary school, pharmacy school, graduate or professional school, research, industry or another career pathway,” Jones said. “We want them to leave Troy prepared not simply to enter that next phase, but ready to excel when they get there.

“As educators and mentors, we often plant seeds without knowing exactly when we will see them come to fruition. Years later, however, we have the privilege of watching former students become accomplished physicians, scientists, veterinarians, pharmacists, researchers, educators and leaders who are making a difference in the lives of others. There is something incredibly rewarding about knowing that you played a role in preparing them for that journey.”

Jones pushes students to not only be good students, but well-rounded ones.

“Typically, we think we're preparing students just to get a degree and get a job, but we're preparing leaders,” Jones said. “Part of being a leader in our field is being able to reach out to, um, stakeholders, to advocate for funding.

“I take students every year to the capitol in DC to talk to Congress about the importance of research and supporting education. I take students to conferences around the world to present their research, to teach them professional development, because it is important that they understand just getting a degree is not enough.”

In order to achieve this level of well-roundedness, Jones encourages students to notice and challenge the world around them.

“Students have to understand, it's not just about taking classes,” Jones said. “Sometimes students are so hyper focused on getting straight A's that they don't do anything but go to class, study, and go home.

“That's not what college is for. When you look at the origin of our university, we were a heartbeat of society, and we were helping to equip students, to be critical thinkers, to be intellectuals, to think outside the box and to critically analyze and reason. Being well rounded means that you intentionally and include yourself in spaces that challenge the way you think.”

Currently, Dr. Jones and her team of students are collaborating with faculty at Duke University on cloning. They're also in the process of developing a peptide with Dr. Jesse James and have two new biomedical engineering faculty that they are working together with to create 3D printed bone to place human cancer cells in and observe how they grow and change.