in 1987 but lost it in 2000.
those that were focused on publications. For those that were more focused on publications, faculty were encouraged to understand that what they were publishing could also lead to grant funding. Jones had to figure out how this portfolio of around $50 million would break down by faculty and discipline, which would help to inform where there were potential areas of growth. From Jones’ own research he understood that the focus needed to be on promoting and advancing the 14 colleges. “That’s where the faculty hold their appointments, that’s where students go to get their learning, that’s the link to the provost’s office, academic affairs, the Deans of the colleges, so we need to set up our vision to serve the colleges,” Jones realized. Jones’s team began to work systematically with the Associate Deans and the faculty about
tech transfer, innovation and a focus on funding, proposals and government compliance. Then Jones began working with the deans and faculty around building up the portfolios of the colleges. Howard President Ben Vinson, who has invested heavily in research since he became president in 2023, said that on average in a single year R1 institutions spend at least $50 million on research and development and produce at least 70 research doctorates and that Howard exceeded the criteria in both categories to earn R1 status back in Feb. 2025. Under Jones’ leadership Howard research has grown from a $50 million portfolio in 2018 to approximately $120 million by 2022. In 2022 Howard University became the first HBCU in research to cross the $100 million mark. The portfolio is varied from research at the Howard University Center – the only cancer center at an HBCU, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard has expanded and is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive repository of books, documents and ephemera on the global Black experience.
In collaboration with Georgetown University, Howard researchers are working on treatments on diseases like Alzheimer’s that disproportionately impact Black patients. Jones focused on the promotion of the work of faculty researchers as a key component to bringing in investors. April is research month at Howard and departments, like the Cathy Hughes School of Communications are showcasing their work with screenings, presentations, manuscripts, audio productions and works-in- progress. Jones sees investing in bringing in top-notch faculty and retaining them as a priority in continuing research success, along with garnering state-of -the-art facilities and continuing to expand partnerships with federal and private philanthropy and with other HBCUS as a prime or sub- contractor for a grant or contract. “We have always had people reaching out to us. Howard is a Rolls Royce brand Jones said proudly,” R1 status just takes us into the stratosphere.”
Jones was hired in 2018 to help Howard create the infrastructure it needed to not only earn R1 Status again, but to make sure that it was maintained. Jones first pivotal step was to establish an office of research for the institution. “There were faculty pursuing grants but there was no office of research to galvanize the potential that Howard had around research, development and accomplishment, because there was no office,” said Jones. To fix that basic need Jones then dug into researching the data in Howard’s portfolio for the last 10-15 years. He found that it had remained stagnant in that time hovering around $50 million for 15 years in a row. During that time there was plenty of research happening; it was just that the same faculty were submitting the same proposals, so the needle wasn’t moving. He divided the data by discipline and dug into what research was being done in the 14 colleges at Howard.
building up their research portfolios in the colleges.
Jones first created an office of research website consisting of new departments, including research development, sponsored research to monitor grants,
There were colleges that were prolific in gaining grants and
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