Ferdinand T. Jones (FAC)

Ferdinand T. Jones, of Providence; Sept. 10, after contracting pneumonia. He was professor emeritus of psychology at Brown. After graduating from Drew University and serving in the U.S. Army, he earned his PhD from the University of Vienna. He then returned to the New York area, playing an active part in the community mental health movement in the 1960s and taking a variety of positions that bridged social justice and psychological concerns. In 1968 he joined the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College and in 1972 he accepted a position at Brown, dividing his time between teaching in the psychology department and doing clinical work with students. He became director of Brown’s Department of Psychological Services in 1980; he retired from that position in 1992 and focused on his teaching role in psychology, developing courses on cultural mistrust, the cultural context of psychotherapy, and human resilience. In the Warren Alpert School of Medicine, he established seminars on minority issues for clinical psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows. He was coeditor—with his brother, Arthur C. Jones—of a volume of essays, The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African-American Music. He was on the Board of Trustees of Women and Infants Hospital and the Board of Directors of the Center for Reconciliation RI. He served as president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association from 1989 to 1990. He was a visiting professor at several universities, including Oberlin College, Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He is survived by two daughters, a granddaughter, two great-grandsons, and a brother.