[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 20, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING GERALDINE JONES ON BECOMING PRESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA 
                       UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BILL SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 2016

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Geraldine M. 
Jones, the seventh president of California University of Pennsylvania. 
This past April, the board of governors for Pennsylvania's State System 
of Higher Education concluded a year-long, nationwide search for the 
university's top position by unanimously selecting Mrs. Jones, who had 
been serving as the university's interim president.
   President Jones is no stranger to the Vulcan community or to western 
Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1972 from then-named California State 
College with a bachelor of education degree, and later earned her 
master's degree in education at California in 1980. She was a school 
teacher to second-grade students in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and later 
returned to her alma mater to serve as a program director for Upward 
Bound and chair the Department of Academic Development Services. She 
went on to serve as the associate dean of the College of Education and 
Human Services for two years before taking on the role of college dean 
from 2000-2008. In July of 2008, she was selected as provost and vice 
president for academic affairs, which she held until she was appointed 
as acting, and then interim, university president.
   Somehow, she still finds time to pay it forward and be an active 
member of her community. She serves as a board member on local and 
regional community organizations, such as the Washington County 
Community Foundation and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. She 
has been a lifelong member of Mt. Zion AME Church in Brownsville, PA.
   California University will hold a formal installation ceremony for 
President Jones on October 14, 2016. President Jones has spent her 
whole life serving the educational community and the people of western 
Pennsylvania, and has been a living embodiment of the University's core 
values: integrity, civility, and responsibility. California University 
of Pennsylvania is fortunate to have her, and I am honored to be able 
to congratulate her on this momentous achievement.

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