Scholarship in Honor of Priscilla Carney Jones

Priscilla Anne (Carney) Jones, April 30, 1937 to August 5, 2007

Chemist and long-time ACS member, Priscilla Carney Jones, passed away in August of 2007.  However, because of her experiences as a woman chemist, she left a legacy to assist other women chemists with their journeys in the chemical sciences.  Priscilla was born to Priscilla Anne Mullin and William L. Carney in Malden, Massachusetts on April 30, 1937.   She graduated from Melrose High School in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1954.  Her father was the head of the English Department and her mother a substitute mathematics teacher at that school.  She earned a B.A., cum laude, from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, in 1958 with a major in chemistry.   At Wheaton she supplemented her scholarship money by working for the college food service.  She also served as editor of the Wire, Wheaton’s student newspaper.   She subsequently earned an M.S. degree in chemistry in 1960 at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where her thesis dealt with the kinetics of electrophilic aromatic halogenation.  She then worked for several years in the Boston, Massachusetts area, at the basic research laboratory of a major chemical company.  Her work there with hydrocarbon swollen polymers as a safe method for transporting flammable liquids ultimately led to the development of napalm.  She also studied the use of stannous fluoride salts in dentifrices as a tooth decay retardant. 

When, in the early 1960s, Priscilla told the company that she was going to the University of Wisconsin to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry, she was told that she would not have a job there when she completed the degree because company policy at that time did not permit the hiring of female Ph.D.-level scientists.  At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Priscilla was one of two women in an entering class or over 100 graduate students.  She worked under the direction of Professor Robert West on the polylithiation of acetylenes and toluene and was the first person to prepare and characterize the tetralithium derivative of propyne, C₃Li₄. (Robert West, Priscilla A. Carney, and I.C. Mineo, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1965, 87, 3788).  With the awarding of her Ph.D. in 1968, she became the second woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. 

While in Madison she met and married her husband of nearly forty years, Paul.   They have two children, a son Kevin, a daughter, Anne Carmel Martinez, and three grandchildren, Trent Fleming, Kevin Paul Jones, and Jessica Lea Jones.  Priscilla accompanied Paul to Denton, Texas, in 1968 when he accepted a teaching position at the then North Texas State University. 

Other colleges in the area stated that they could not hire her because of nepotism considerations.  She sought positions at many companies in the north Texas area and usually was told, “We’re sorry, but you are overqualified for the position we are trying to fill.”  After the children were grown and attending school, Priscilla served as a research associate and a temporary adjunct professor in the Chemistry Department of the University of North Texas for many years, teaching in the freshman chemistry program.  Because of the difficulties she faced as a female chemist early in her career she wished to establish a scholarship for women studying chemistry, the Priscilla Carney Jones Scholarship.  The Scholarship, to be awarded both on the basis of need and academic success, intends to support an undergraduate woman entering her junior or senior year in the study of chemistry or a chemically related area.  The selection committee is a joint subcommittee of the Women Chemists Committee and the Younger Chemists Committee of the American Chemical Society.  Donations may be made to the Alpha Chi Sigma Educational Foundation, 2141 N. Franklin Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46219-2497.

In August of 2008, Rhoda Ballentine received the inaugural Priscilla Carney Jones Scholarship.  Rhoda is a chemistry major at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA with a 3.74 GPA.  She participates in various clubs and organizations such as the Chemistry Club, the Science and Mathematics Space Academy, the Spelman Student Ambassador Program, the Summer Science and Engineering Program, and the NASA Summer Program.  While maintaining her academic record, Rhoda is actively involved in community and civic organizations with the Cobb County School System, the Morehouse Mathematics Teacher Assistant Program, the Girls to Women Mentor Program, the Bridging the Gap Program, and the South Cobb Boys and Girls Club.

Last summer, Rhoda participated in a collegiate research program designed to help undergraduate students strengthen their research skills while exposing them to various career opportunities.  She also tutors young inner-city children and models excellence as she tries to motivate them to achieve their goals.  Rhoda has received numerous awards and honors including the National Collegiate Scholars Award, Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society, Dean’s List, and Spelman College Summer Science and Engineering Program’s Most Outstanding Student Award in Chemistry and Pre-Calculus.  She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Due to her dedication as a woman chemist, Priscilla Carney Jones accomplished many great things in her lifetime; in her honor, this scholarship will help a great many more women chemists succeed as well.  The deadline for applying for the 2009 Priscilla Carney Jones Scholarship is April 1, 2009.  Application information can be found on the WCC website, http://membership.acs.org/W/WCC/.

-Amber Hinkle and Paul Jones

Rhoda Ballentine

YCC Chair Mick Hurrey, Paul Jones, and Amber Hinkle     

Photo courtesy of Linda Wang