CONTACT:
Mike Lurie
Office: 410-455-6380
Cellphone: 443-695-0262
mlurie@umbc.edu

Sept. 28, 2007

BALTIMORE – The U.S. Senate has confirmed Diane Auer Jones ’88, M.S. applied molecular biology, as assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education. Her swearing-in ceremony took place Sept. 27 at the department's Barnard Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

As assistant secretary for postsecondary education, Jones serves as the principal adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on departmental matters related to developing postsecondary education policy and legislative proposals.

The Office of Postsecondary Education has administrative responsibility for numerous programs, including those designed to provide financial assistance to eligible students enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions, promote the domestic study of foreign languages and international affairs and support international education and research.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) named Jones its Outstanding Alumna of the Year (Natural & Mathematical Sciences) in 2006, when she served as deputy associate director in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Jones was an original member of the UMBC Research Park Board. She and her husband, William Jones ’89, Ph.D. biological sciences, live in Catonsville near the UMBC campus. UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, had the pleasure of speaking at the Department of Education’s swearing-in ceremony, at Jones’ invitation.

“Diane has vast experience in the public and private sectors of higher education, as well as policy and government affairs,” Spellings said in a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Education. “As assistant secretary, she will be an invaluable member of my team as we continue efforts to improve America’s higher education system in order to better serve the needs of students and their families.”

Jones joined the Department of Education in May 2007 as principal deputy secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education. Previously, in addition to her White House position, she has served as director of the Office of Government Affairs at Princeton University and as a program director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation.