File B1986-0054 - Jones, L.E. (oral history)

L.E. "Ted" Jones was born in Montreal in 1910. After the First World War, his family settled in Transcona, a suburb of Winnipeg. He completed a B.Sc. in 1931 at the University of Manitoba and graduated as a gold medallist in civil engineering. The following year he moved to Toronto to undertake graduate work in open channel hydraulics at the University of Toronto. After completing his MASc and PhD degrees, he joined the department of applied physics and subsequently the department of mechanical engineering in 1944.

Professor Jones was associated with the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering for approximately seventy years. Over his career, he instructed students in fluid mechanics and hydraulic engineering, metrology and numerical analysis. His research was primarily focused on open channel hydraulics – the science of water flow in channels like rivers and canals. Jones also undertook consulting work in the area of hydraulics. In addition to his research and teaching activities, he also served as an unofficial ombudsman to students and was famous for his lectures on the use of the slide rule as well as his annual address on dress and deportment, which was delivered before the graduation ball.

Professor Jones retired from the University in 1972. He was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1975. Prior to his retirement, and as a consequence of his deep interest in the Faculty’s history, he was appointed Engineering Archivist by Professor James Ham, then Dean, a role he continued to hold until his death.

Professor Jones was a man of many interests. Starting from his early years at the University until after his retirement, he sang with the Hart House Glee Club. It was through his singing, while working on a University production of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera that he met his wife Dorothy, whom he married in 1938. He also was actively involved in his church, St. George’s on-the-Hill in Etobicoke, wrote poetry, was a calligrapher who hand-lettered citations and awards bestowed by the University and an avid photographer who recorded notable events. L.E. Jones maintained his connection to the University and pursued many of these activities until his death in 1999.