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Name: Dr. Constance Jones
Title: Professor
Department: Psychology
Academic Degree(s):

• B.A. Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
• M.S. and Ph.D. Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University

How long have you worked at Fresno State and in which offices have you worked?
I have worked here since 1993. I worked my way through assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. I was chair of the Department of Psychology for almost 10 years, have been (and am currently interim) chair of the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects for almost 10 years. I recently served three semesters as interim associate dean of the College of Science and Mathematics.

Are you a Valley native?
I am not a Valley native, but I am certainly a California native. My grandparents were born in Grass Valley, Orange, Ukiah (fine, one was born in Saginaw, Oregon), my parents were born in San Francisco and Oakland, and I was born in Berkeley. I came here to work as a professor.

Do you have a campus mentor or someone who has helped you in your career?
Part of the reason I enjoy working here is I feel like I’m part of a campuswide learning community. I am guided by students, staff, faculty, administrators, and I try to return that guidance, if I can. A very notable lovely mentor for my early career was the late Bob Levine, who was chair of the Department of Psychology when I was hired. Bob was a great example of a thriving, creative and energized faculty member.

Tell us about your department and what people may not know about it.
The Department of Psychology is huge. Many Psychology Departments are not housed in Colleges of Science and Mathematics, but we are, and it’s a great fit for us.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
In the tiny, specialized area of lifespan development of personality, I was able to use some specialized statistics to demonstrate that personality does change — for some people — when examined across decades of life. I was able to show this at a time when most scientists thought personality was set in stone by early adulthood.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
I am most passionate about teaching research design and statistics in psychology, because I believe that thinking logically and carefully about human behavior is important for everyone — not just professional scientists. And I just love teaching in general. I am very excited to have a book “The Essentials of College Teaching,” published by Rowman and Littlefield, coming out this December.

What is your favorite quote or saying?
I’m a huge fan of poetry. Some current favorite poems are "The Thing Is" by Ellen Bass, "Citizens of a Broken City" by Alison Luterman, "Marriage Song" by Tony Hoagland, and "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver. A favorite quote might be Ram Dass’ "We are all just walking each other home."

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I like writing and reading, looking at birds, cooking, and sitting in the backyard with a nicely crafted cocktail.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
I’m sort of famous for teaching with stuffed animals. Real taxidermized animals — like my fox who normally resides over the piano, Pinkie — my teaching assistant pink stuffed monkey, and this semester, tiny stuffed monkeys, some of whom sport sparkling pierced ears.