Exit Interview

Chancellor Robert Jones welcomes the next generation of students take part in New Student Convocation, a ceremony to welcome students to the University of Illinois marking the official beginning of their Illini experience. (Image by Fred Zwicky)

What are your feelings about leaving Illinois?
Mixed emotions. Leading this institution has been the most profound experience of my 46 years in higher education. But, sometimes things happen. Back in November, when I made the announcement that I was stepping down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, I was planning to spend my time in Chicago working on such university initiatives as the Discovery Partners Institute and Chicago Quantum Exchange. But within 48 hours of that announcement, I must have gotten calls from 60 percent of the 24 R1 research universities about leadership positions that were open—mostly presidents’ positions. I realized that sometimes you’ve just got to go with what you know. I’m excited about this new opportunity. The University of Washington is a pretty amazing place.

Congratulations on being named 2025 Commencement speaker. What thoughts will you share with our grads going forth into the world?
My own lived experience is a road less traveled. There are not a lot of people who look like me and who came up as a son of sharecroppers in southwestern Georgia, yet were able to get a world-class education—and, in my case, contribute to research that has helped mitigate the impact of global climate change on economically important grain crops. After more than 34 years in the laboratory, I went on to lead two universities and am now on the cusp of running a third.

I hope my life story offers encouragement for any young person who may be concerned that they are not good enough, are not smart enough, don’t have the financial resources. They, too,
can do whatever they set their minds on doing—despite the naysayers who will essentially say: “Why are you doing that? You can’t do that!” I want to remind young people: Don’t let anybody try to define your future but you.

Left: Jones leads riders in the Illini 4000, a cross-country student bike trek to raise funds for cancer research. Right: Chancellor Robert Jones addresses the 2024 graduating class. This year, he served as the keynote speaker. He says, “I want to remind young people: Don’t let anybody try to define your future but you.” (Images by Fred Zwicky)

How do you think your parents would feel about their son becoming a university president?
My mom would become very emotional and would be crying, praying and testifying. My dad would say, “Get over it. We’ve got stuff to do.” Seriously, I think they would both be very happy. My dad was a sharecropper, but he was very successful. We never went hungry or ragged a day in our lives because he had multiple jobs. He raised pigs, and we would smoke our own meat. He grew most of the vegetables that we ate.

The sharecroppers’ kids were expected to harvest the cotton and the peanuts out of the fields before they started back to school full-time. My parents made it clear to the landowners that we wouldn’t miss a day of school to harvest crops. But when that school bus rode through that plantation after school? Man! We got off and picked cotton until the sun went down.

You’ve accomplished a lot as chancellor. Of what are you most proud?
Nothing is more important for a world-class education than access and affordability. Early in my administration, we found that a growing number of students weren’t even applying to Illinois, and much of it had to do with sticker shock. There were students graduating from high schools in central and southern Illinois and areas around Chicago, for whom the narrative was, “I can probably get into the University of Illinois. But why apply if I know I can’t afford it?” We launched Illinois Commitment in 2018 to support students from households with incomes of $67,100 or less. Billboards went up throughout the state: “Illinois Commitment: Four Years of Free Tuition and Fees.” About 30 percent of the students in the first incoming class, after we began the initiative, were recipients. Clearly, we were meeting a significant need. We’ve now increased the income threshold to $75,000.

What has been the impact of this added support?
We were at 45,000 students when I came here. Now, enrollment is at 59,236. Applications have gone through the ceiling—70,000-plus for this fall. I’d like to add that we have some of the highest retention and graduation rates among our peer institutions. Almost 60 percent of our students graduate with zero debt. And within six months of graduating, more than 80 percent of our new alumni go out into the world and arrive at their first career destination.

What was the greatest challenge your administration faced?
The pandemic. I believe we responded to COVID-19 more effectively and efficiently than any of our peer institutions. Just before spring break in March 2020, we made the tough decision to go remote. That was profound. We sent a mass e-mail to our students as they were getting ready to go home and told them that they might want to take their computers and other critical assets with them because we weren’t sure that they’d be able to come back. Thanks to an extraordinary effort by our faculty and staff, classes resumed online after the 10-day break period. We stayed remote for the rest of the semester. Over the summer, tapping into the superb research expertise of our faculty, we created the most effective COVID-19 saliva test in the world. That raised the university’s reputation tremendously. It was a very dynamic period. It seemed like every day I was talking to CNN or CBS.

What are some of your other most successful accomplishments?
When we got here, there was pushback that the university wasn’t really connected to the community. We tried to change that. We reached out locally to support the K-12 schools, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and the United Way. We strengthened the transfer process between the university and community colleges, particularly Parkland College. We built relationships with the City Colleges of Chicago and other K-12 and higher education institutions. And we leveraged the assets we have in every county through our extension offices. We’re not sitting behind some ivy-covered wall doing our own thing. We’re seeing what we can do to benefit the broader society. That’s in our mission as a land-grant university.

We also used video messaging to create a stronger sense of belonging for our students. The videos are informative and sometimes funny. I think the messaging has led to a perspective that I’m approachable and that I care. I have probably taken more selfies with students than any chancellor in the history of higher education.

“I have probably taken more selfies with students than any chancellor in the history of higher education,” Jones says. (Images by Fred Zwicky)

What are your thoughts on the current threats to federal funding for research universities?
Earlier this spring, The New York Times asked if I was fearful about what’s going on. We don’t have time to be fearful. But am I concerned? Yes. This is the most challenging period in the 46 years I’ve been in higher education. The strategy is to do what we’ve always done: roll up our sleeves. This will pass.

Research universities must continue to move forward and leverage our expertise, influence and connections to mitigate the damage and the lost impact of our research and innovation. We must also advance a more prosperous future for higher education. How do we protect the land grant mission? How do we help policymakers in Washington, D.C., and other places understand the potential dangers? By becoming a partner in resolving these issues, rather than standing on the sideline complaining. We don’t have time to complain. We have to work, aggressively, toward defining solutions. The mission remains providing world-class education at an affordable price, doing the research and innovation that saves lives, and graduating students who will go out and redefine the world. Higher education is going to continue to do that at scale, notwithstanding these executive orders.

What will you miss most about Illinois?
The great sense of belonging that comes with being part of this university. My wife, Lynn, and I never felt like we were outsiders. Illinois embraced us from day one. At university celebrations and events, I’ve been blown away by the people who’ve come up and thanked us for what we have done. The sense of gratitude and belonging and partnership here—I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m going to miss that tremendously. Tremendously.

One last question: Will you have a yard sale featuring your Illini gear?
I can still wear my Illini gear when I go on vacation! I just can’t wear it at the University of Washington. I did just get a whole new set of gear that I haven’t even worn yet—I’ll probably give that back to athletics or donate it. And everybody is asking for my ties! But I’ll always be an Illini, regardless of what I may be doing.