In 1961, after graduating from the University of Colorado School of Law, Mr. Jones began his career in cable television by representing cable companies in their acquisition efforts across the country. In 1964, Mr. Jones put his law career on hold to run for the U.S. Congress in Colorado’s First Congressional District (Denver). After being defeated, he decided to renew his focus on the cable television industry.

In 1967, Mr. Jones borrowed $400 against his Volkswagen to purchase his first cable system in Georgetown, Colorado, which was the genesis of his cable operations company, Jones Intercable, Inc. Mr. Jones was the first person in the industry to organize public limited partnerships to raise capital for cable acquisitions. In fact, Jones’ partnerships raised more than $1.2 billion in equity capital for such purposes.

During its 32 years under Mr. Jones’ guidance, Jones Intercable pioneered more than a dozen industry firsts and grew to become one of the ten largest cable television operators in the United States, serving more than 1.5 million customers nationwide.

Education Ventures

In 1987, Mr. Jones embarked on his first adventure in distance education and founded the cable network Mind Extension University (ME/U). Until the early 1990s, when it changed its name to Knowledge TV, ME/U delivered college courses to viewers’ television sets, offering them easy access to distance learning programs.

The advancement of Internet technology resulted in the creation of online education entities in the 1990s, most notably, Jones International University (JIU), a university existing completely in cyberspace, which he founded in 1995. Jones International University made it possible for students to learn from anywhere in the world, at any time they chose. On March 5, 1999, JIU made history when it became the first fully online university to receive accreditation from a nationally recognized regional accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, a member of the North Central Association.

Additionally, Mr. Jones seized the opportunity to help other universities and corporations benefit from his pioneering in Internet-based educational technologies. Under Jones Knowledge, Inc., he founded Jones e-education, a groundbreaking online course management and delivery platform that eventually, in 2002, he donated to the world’s educational institutions as Jones e-education: the Software Standard (Jones Standard). Other valuable components of Jones Knowledge are Jones e-global library, a comprehensive suite of online library resources, including annotated research guides, reference assistance and career development resources; and the Knowledge Store, an expansive collection of licensable, high-quality education and training content.

In 1995, Mr. Jones founded the Global Alliance for Transnational Education (GATE), a global accrediting body and forum for government, academic, accrediting agencies, students, and businesses to discuss and implement quality assurance for education and training programs that cross national borders. He served as chairman until August, 2003, when he donated GATE to the United States Distance Learning Association to further its interests.

Entertainment Companies

During the 1990s, Mr. Jones formed Jones Media Networks, Ltd. (JMN), a network content and e-commerce company that develops programming for radio, television, cable TV networks, and the Internet. JMN includes a number of subsidiaries, including Jones Radio Networks, Inc. (JRN), a leading independent provider of high-quality programming to radio stations nationwide. Its syndicated programming includes shows hosted by nationally known personalities, interviews featuring popular music talent, and music countdown shows. In 1995, leveraging synergy from his country music radio programming at JRN, Mr. Jones created Great American Country, a 24-hour country music video cable TV network that at the time of its sale to the E.W. Scripps Company in 2004, reached approximately 34 million households in the United States. Jones MediaAmerica, Inc. – a radio, cable TV network and Internet advertising representation firm – is also a part of the JMN family of companies.

Through Jones Entertainment Group, Mr. Jones produced many award-winning documentaries and motion pictures such as The Mystery of Genius, The Secret of Roan Inish, and The Story Lady. In addition, he has produced various CD-ROMs, including Charlton Heston’s Voyage Through The Bible and the Jones Telecommunications and Multimedia Encyclopedia.

Customer Management Software

With a strong commitment to high-quality customer service, in the mid-1990s, Mr. Jones saw an opportunity to create a new enterprise to meet the diverse customer management needs of technology companies. In the mid-1990s, Mr. Jones started Jones Cyber Solutions, Ltd. (JCS), which provides state-of-the-art customer management software solutions to telecommunications companies around the world. Its premier product, Intelligent Customer Support Systems (ICSS), accommodates numerous products offered in the convergent marketplace, including telephony, mobile services, cable TV, pay TV and Internet services.

Published Works

• Free Market Fusion (1999)
• Cyberschools: An Education Renaissance (1996, 2000, 2002)
• The Jones Telecommunications and Multimedia Encyclopedia (1996)
• Make All America a School (1991)
• Jones Dictionary of Cable Television Terminology (1978, 1976, 1987)
• Briefcase Poetry of Yankee Jones Volumes I, II, & III (1978, 1981, 1985)

Mr. Jones earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Allegheny College and served in the U.S. Navy. He then obtained a juris doctor degree from the University of Colorado School of Law. Additionally, Mr. Jones completed the executive program at Stanford Business School in 1973.

Mr. Jones is one of the founding members of the James Madison National Council – a select advisory body to the Library of Congress – and currently serves on its steering committee. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Columbia Institute of Tele-Information at Columbia Business School. Locally, he serves on the Board of Trustees for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Board of the Denver Area Council, Boy Scouts of America.

He is a past member of the board of directors for the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), and also served on its executive committee. Additionally, he served on the boards of C-SPAN, The Cable Center, the National Alliance of Business (NAB), the Colorado Institute of Technology (CIT), the Colorado Governor's Commission on Science and Technology and the Board of Governors for the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

In addition to several honorary doctorate degrees, Mr. Jones has received numerous awards from various organizations for his outstanding contributions in the fields of distance education and cable television. Some of his notable recognitions are: