Norm Jones remembered for devotion to students

Utah State University is mourning the loss of longtime history professor Norman L. Jones, known to students and colleagues simply as “Norm,” whose decades of teaching left a lasting mark on the university and the broader community, according to a former student and university faculty member. 

Jones, a scholar of the English Tudor period and the history of Christianity, joined the USU History Department in 1978. According to the Utah State Today article “USU Mourns the Passing of History Professor Norman Jones,” he went on to serve in numerous leadership roles, including department head, and authored 11 books during his academic career. 

Ross Peterson, a retired history professor who was part of the team that hired Jones, said the department knew early on they had found the right person.

“We hired Norm in part because of his expertise in the history of Christianity, as well as his ability that we had seen during his interview displays as a lecturer,” Peterson said. “We needed people that were absolutely dedicated to teaching, and he was.” 

Jones earned his doctorate from the University of Cambridge and built his scholarly reputation studying early modern England, particularly the religious and political transformations under Henry VIII and his successors. However, his colleagues say his research, while significant, was never the whole story. 

“I think what he’s going to be mostly remembered for is how he helped facilitate opportunity for students,” Peterson said. “The purpose of a university is to give young people the opportunity to become knowledgeable. Our job is to teach them to learn and to find what they’re passionate about. He was a master at that.” 

 During his years as department head, Jones advised dozens of students each year, meeting with them directly to plan courses and career paths. Peterson described him as deeply committed to the idea that universities exist first and foremost for students. 

 “The university exists for those students — not for you, not for me,” Peterson said. “I think that’s where he dedicated his life.” 

 For former student Joseph N. Anderson, now assistant director of Logan Library, Jones was the reason he chose Utah State. 

 As a prospective transfer student interested in British history, Anderson learned the department chair at USU had studied at Cambridge and specialized in Tudor England. 

 “That was a huge draw,” Anderson said. “The opportunity to come study in a department with someone who had studied over there — that was very appealing to me.” 

 Anderson first took Jones’ medieval civilization course in 2005 and quickly noticed his command of the material. More importantly to Anderson, Jones emphasized primary sources, the voices of people who lived during the eras being studied. 

 “He always emphasized original sources,” Anderson said. “We weren’t just reading what other people had said about the time period. We were reading the voices of people who were actually living during that time.” 

 The mentorship went beyond lectures. Anderson enrolled in two semesters of directed readings with Jones, meeting one-on-one in his book-lined office to discuss assigned texts. 

 “To sit casually in his office, surrounded by books, talking about my favorite subject was incredible,” Anderson said. 

 One of the books Jones assigned remains part of Anderson’s life two decades later. Anderson said he rereads it every five years — a quiet tribute to the professor who introduced it to him. It is called “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People” by Bede. 

 Anderson said Jones’ generosity extended beyond academics. Years after graduation, Anderson reconnected with him at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Logan. Despite Jones’ international reputation and extensive publication record, Anderson said he remained approachable and kind. 

“He had this amazing resume, and yet, he was a great person, too,” Anderson said. “Near the end of my first semester, I asked him to sign one of his books. He wrote, ‘To Joseph, Fellow Historian.’ That meant a lot to me.” 

Peterson said Jones was also deeply engaged in the broader community, serving in church leadership and on humanities councils, advocating for education and public scholarship.  

“When someone passes, we have a reason to mourn,” Peterson said. “Norm gave us that reason.”