James E. Jones, Jr. came to Lincoln University in 1946, and graduated magna cum laude in 1950. He excelled as an athlete, earning two letters in track and field and four letters in football. In 1948, he held the conference record by rushing for 880 yards. He helped lead the track team to their tenth conference championship at the time, defeating Wilberforce by half a point in the 1948 conference track meet.
In 1956, he received his law degree from Wisconsin Law School in Madison. Jones was the first African American Professor of Law in the history of the University of Wisconsin Law School. He became a tenured professor in the Law School, and was the Director of the Graduate School of Labor and Industrial Relations for two years. Jones pioneered two courses in employment discrimination, with one for law students and the other for law professionals.
In 1967, Jones received the Lincoln University Distinguished Alumni Award and also received the University of Wisconsin Law School’s most prestigious honor when he was named the Nathan P. Feinsinger Professor of Labor Law Emeritus. He was recognized as an outstanding labor lawyer, legislative draftsman and administrator, whose many pioneering achievements include designing the original rules and regulations mapping out the government’s affirmative action policy.
Until retiring in 1973, Jones held a quarter-time appointment with the Industrial Relations Research Institute (IRRI) and served as its Director from 1971-to-1973. He was also a Bascom professor at the IRRI from 1983-to-1991.
