2021 Honorary Life Award

Dean Jones, our genial digital technician and frequent host of USRA Zoom meetings, has been especially visible recently helping our elderly membership cope with virtual communication in the CoVID-19 pandemic. But Dean has been a blessing to the administration of the University of Saskatchewan and, in his “retirement,” to the USRA, for a combined total of more than 50 years. He is a USask alumnus (1968-72) who worked in the University’s administration as Systems Analyst, holding various positions from Programmer through Director, for almost 37 years before officially retiring from Information and Communications Technology in March 2008.

In the Saskatoon community he has also been generously volunteering his digital and organizational skills to help the less privileged. He has also served the Saskatoon Jazz Society as Board member since 2015 and is currently an officer.

From at least 2009, Dean has been an active member of the USRA Board. The November 2010 USRA Newsletter expressed thanks to Dean for his “major work” over the past year to redesign the USRA website. Dean served as USRA President (2013-14) and as Secretary (2016-18). He has been a member of almost every USRA committee and a chair of many, offering his wisdom, administrative experience, and expertise by stepping into vacant leadership roles. After USRA Newsletter editor Robert Sanche resigned in December 2012 after five years of service, leaving a hole that soon reduced the frequency of newsletter publication from four issues to one per year, Dean finally took over this role and leadership in other USRA communication. It has been his major ongoing focus. He has restored and improved the content and layout of the newsletter, and developed new forms of communication, more recently assisted by Jacqueline Huck (his successor as USRA Secretary in 2018) and Judith Henderson (newsletter editor), and Mary Dykes (website design and newsletter layout) on the Communications Committee. Thank you, Dean, for all you have done for USRA. You richly deserve our Honorary Life Award.