Marshall Jones
Mechanical engineer and inventor Marshall G. Jones was born on August 1, 1941 in Southampton, New York to Mildred and Dallas Jones. While his father served in the Navy during World War II, Jones and his brother lived with his great aunt and uncle in Aquebogue, New York on their duck farm. Although he had to repeat the fourth grade because of his reading skills, Jones excelled in math and science. Jones attended Riverhead High School and graduated with his diploma in 1960. Two years later, he received his A.A.S. degree from Mohawk Valley Community College. Jones then received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1965. In his graduating class, he was the only African American student in the engineering school. Following work as a development engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Jones went on to attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering in 1972 and 1974, respectively.
Jones entered into industrial research in 1974, working with General Electric Global Research in New York. Jones was one of General Electric’s first scientists researching laser material processing and he soon became the manager of the Laser Technology Program. In 1982, Jones started research on high-power laser beam transmission through optical fibers. His research allowed for the passage of high power laser beams with high efficiency. Jones continued to specialize in laser technology, becoming a major pioneer in the field. His work included the use of lasers to join two dissimilar metal combinations together. He received fifty United States patents, thirty-one foreign patents and wrote over 45 publications. Jones served as an adjunct professor at SUNY of Albany and Schenectady County Community College. He is the subject of the children’s book, Never Give up: The Marshall Jones Story .
Jones won a number of awards for his groundbreaking work. He is the recipient of the General Electric Company’s highest honor, the E-GR Coolidge Fellow. Jones was named the 1994 Black Engineer of the Year for his technical contributions to industry. One year later, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Professional and Community Service from the University of Massachusetts. Jones went on to receive the Pioneer of the Year Golden Torch Award from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) in 1999. He was also elected into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2001 for his contributions to the application of high-power lasers in industry. Jones was a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and the Laser Institute of America (LIA).
Marshall G. Jones was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 4, 2012.
A2012.157
Male
8/4/2012
Jones
Married
Gordon
Aquebogue Elementary School
Riverhead Senior High School
Mohawk Valley Community College
University of Michigan
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Marshall
Southampton
JON30
Fall
New York
Reunions
Go Blue.

New York
8/1/1941
Albany
United States
Apples (Fried)
Mechanical engineer and inventor Marshall Jones (1941 - ) was a pioneer in laser technology, receiving fifty United States patents.
General Electric Company
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Schenectady Community College
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Marshall Jones' interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones describes his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his great-uncle Lawrence Miller's duck farming business
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about his great-uncle, Lawrence Miller, and great-aunt, Mary Jackson
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones talks about his mother, Mildred Green
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones describes his father's family background
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones talks about his father, Dallas Jones
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones talks about his parents' marriage and his father's career in the U.S. Postal Service
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his relationship with his father
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones describes his parents' personalities and who he takes after
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones talks about his parents' role in his upbringing (part 1)
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Marshall Jones talks about his parents' role in his upbringing (part 2)
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Marshall Jones describes his earliest childhood memory
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Marshall Jones recalls stories from his childhood
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones describes the medical condition of being tongue tied
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones describes the sights, smells and sounds of growing up
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones describes his experience in grade school
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his relationship with his great-uncle, Lawrence Miller
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about repeating the fourth grade
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones talks about his mother moving away from home
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones describes his teenage interest in airplanes and in becoming a pilot
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones talks about learning algebra at Aquebogue Elementary School
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones talks about the demographics at Riverhead High School
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones talks about playing sports in school - part one
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about playing sports in school - part two
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones describes his decision to attend Mohawk Valley Community College
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones talks about the death of his great-uncle, Lawrence Miller
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones talks about how he explained his engineering drawings to his mother
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones describes his experience at Mohawk Valley Community College
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his first encounter with racism
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about his mentor at Mohawk Valley Community College
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones describes his decision to transfer to the University of Michigan
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Marshall Jones describes his experience with racism in Florida in 1961
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Marshall Jones talks about his mentor at the University of Michigan
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones talks about Ted Kaczynski and Marina Oswald attending the University of Michigan
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones describes his experience at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones talks about meeting his wife and getting married
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his decision to pursue his Ph.D. degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones describes his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones talks about his mother's unexpected death
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Marshall Jones talks about taking the professional engineering exam
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Marshall Jones describes patent rights and his work at GE Global Research
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones describes lasers and his work using lasers
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones describes his pioneering work with lasers
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones talks about the awards that he has received
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones describes his work on processing laser energy through fiber optics
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about his advisory role at the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones talks about using lasers in additive manufacturing
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Marshall Jones describes his work on using lasers in underwater cladding
Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones describes his work on laser-based hotwire welding
Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones describes his work on portable plenum laser forming
Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones reflects upon his contributions to laser technology and science
Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones talks about his overall experience at the General Electric Research Center
Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about mentoring and competitive running
Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Marshall Jones talks about the inspiration for his book, Never Give Up - The Marshall Jones Story
Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Marshall Jones reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Marshall Jones talks about his family
Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Marshall Jones reflects upon his career path
Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Marshall Jones talks about how he would like to be remembered
Tape: 9 Story: 6 - Marshall Jones describes his photographs
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