North American Scholar
JONES, William Robert
- Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1917-07-08
- Born City: Lawrenceville
- Born State/Country: IL
- Parents: Samuel E. Jones & wife.
- Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1968-08-06
- Death City: Columbus
- Death State/Country: OH
- Married: Eileen Patricia Ryan, 30 Dec. 1940.
- Education:
B.A. U. Illinois, 1937; M.A., 1938; Ph.D., 1940.
- Professional Experience:
Instr. to prof, class, langs. Ohio State, 1940-68; Fulbright lctr. Melbourne, Australia, 1957-8; ed.-in-chief CJ, 1961-8; consult, for class, etymology, Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, 3d ed.
- Dissertation:
"The Text Tradition of Avianus" (Illinois, 1940).
- Publications:
"Avianus, Flavianus, Theodosius, and Macrobius," Studies Perry, 203-9.
- Notes:
W. Robert Jones' interest in Avianus began with his dissertation written under B. E. Perry and continued to the end of his life. He was expert in the whole field of the fable and at his death was at work on a large volume on Avianus and the Middle Ages. At OSU he was an energetic and popular instructor, whose last Greek mythology class contained 875 students, and who seemed to have limitless time for graduates and undergraduates alike. He prepared over 5,000 etymologies for Webster's Third International Dictionary, and according to his colleague Kenneth M. Abbott, he invented the term "Xerox" at the request of the Battelle Memorial Institute. He adds, "Professor Jones' memory will always be cherished by all those who had come to know him, not only for the extraordinary range of his learning, and the sureness of his taste, but for his unending kindness." At his death a scholarship was established in his name at OSU.
- Sources:
K. M. Abbott, CJ 64 (1968-9) 45-6; DAS 64:124.
- Author: Ward W. Briggs, Jr.
