Dr. Jones earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley,
a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University,
and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Human Development, University
of California, Berkeley before joining Fresno State as a faculty member in the Psychology
department in 1993. She primarily teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses
on statistics and research design and is currently under contract by Rowman and Littlefield
to write a text on The Essentials of College Teaching. Dr. Jones has published over
30 journal articles and has received grants from the National Institute of Mental
Health and the National Institute on Aging for her research on personality change
and psychological health change across the lifespan. She is also a fellow of the
Gerontological Society of America. She has served as chair of over 30 Master’s theses
in Psychology (with 4 recognized as “Outstanding Thesis of the Year”) as well as a
member of over 70 Master’s thesis committees in Psychology.
Her efforts have been recognized by several awards, including the 2010 Provost’s Award
for Outstanding Graduate Teaching and Mentoring. She has coordinated “Preparing Future
Faculty” workshops since 2006. Dr. Jones is currently co-PI on a cross-CSU campus
three-year National Science Foundation grant. She has provided exceptional service
for the department, college, and university in numerous and varied roles, including
Department of Psychology Graduate Advisor, CSM Alumni and Community Outreach Coordinator,
Chair of the CSM Personnel Committee, Chair of the CSM Curriculum Committee, and Chair
of the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. Dr. Jones was Chair of the
Department of Psychology for nearly 10 years, completing her last term in 2019.
Changes in personality across the lifespan
Changes in psychological health across the lifespan
Developmental statistics and methodologies