Richard Foster Jones was a professor of English at Stanford University, and executive head of the university"s English department.
Background
Born in Salido, Texas, he was the son of Samuel J. Jones, an educator who had been the head of Salado College before it closed, and who, following the college"s closing, established in its former building the Thomas Arnold High School, a private academy which he headed from 1890 until 1913.
Education
Following his graduation from his father"s school, Richard Foster Jones attended the University of Texas, from which he received a bachelor"s degree in 1907.
Career
His research interests included early modern English literature (especially Sir Francis Bacon), the history of science, and the writings of Jonathan Swift. He then went on to Columbia University, where he received a master"s degree, and a doctorate in 1918. Jones joined the faculty of Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1919 and remained at that school until 1945, by which time he had risen to the position of Dean of the Graduate School.
Though Jones spent only the last seven years of his academic career at Stanford, his name is closely associated with the school.