Jones received an Bachelor of Arts from Rice University in Mathematics in 1964, a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1968, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1973.
She was Director, Defense Research and Engineering from 1993 to 1997. Jones" father, a petroleum engineer, encouraged her to devote herself to something. She remained at Carnegie Mellon as an assistant professor, with promotion to associate professor in 1978.
She joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1989, where she is University Professor emerita (As of 2011).
Jones became the Director of Defense Research and Engineering for the United States. Department of Defense in June 1993, a position in which she was responsible for the management of the science and technology program Her responsibilities included the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and oversight of the Department of Defense laboratories, as well as being the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for defense-related scientific and technical matters.
She returned to the University of Virginia in 1997. The United States. Navy has named a seamount in the North Pacific Ocean (51° 25’ North and 159° 10’ West) for her.
From 1988 to 1992, she was a trustee of the MITRE Corporation.
With William A. Wulf, her husband, Jones was a founder and vice president of Tartan Laboratories, a compiler technology company, in 1981. Jones received the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award from the Association of Women in Computing in 2004. She is also the recipient of the Computing Research Association"s Service Award, the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the Department of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service.
Since 2004, Jones has been a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Council on Foreign Relations.
