Gerard F. Jones is Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Villanova University and former chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Before earning his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1980s, he gained several years of experience in industry as a project engineer for a large oil company. After attaining his PhD, he was technical staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory for seven years, where he performed research on solar and geothermal technologies. He is a co-initiator of the service-learning effort at Villanova to engage engineering students in helping challenged communities in Central America and other locations around the world to provide clean water for their families. He has published over seventy-five papers and journal articles, and has led numerous conference proceedings. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.