Mathews was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of John H. “Jack” Mathews, an attorney, and Grace Logie Mathews, a schoolteacher. He grew up in Hollywood, graduated from the Flintridge Preparatory School, and enrolled in Pomona College in 1948 at the age of 16.
He then graduated summa cum laude in Mathematics.
After a 23-year career on the physics faculty at Caltech, he was lost at sea and presumed drowned in the Indian Ocean six months into an around-the-world sailing expedition. As a sophomore, he met Charlotte Dallett, a chemistry student. Jon also played shortstop for two years on Pomona’s baseball team
In June 1952, Mathews and Charlotte were married.
Mathews received a Fulbright Scholarship, and moved with Charlotte to England for his year of study at Cambridge University. In 1953, he continued his graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, earning a Doctor of Philosophy in 1956.
After graduation Mathews joined the Caltech staff In 1959 he was an Assistant Professor of physics, in 1966 an Associate Professor and in 1970 he held the position of full Professor.
In 1964, Mathews moved his family of six from Altadena, California, to Kanpur, India for a year while he participated in the Kanpur Indo-American Program (KIAP).
In 1971, Mathews and his Caltech contemporary, Doctor Robert Walker, co-authored and published Mathematical Methods of Physics, which received positive reviews and remains a widely used college textbook in 2014. During his years at Cal Technical, Mathews authored a number of scientific papers. Jon also served on the Sierra Madre Search & Rescue Team from 1955 to 1962, using his climbing skills to rescue hikers and climbers in distress.
