William Alton Jones

William Alton Jones (April 19, 1891 – March 1, 1962) was president of the oil and gas conglomerate Cities Service. He was an influential industrialist, philanthropist, and close personal friend of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Biography Jones was born into a poor Missouri farm family of seven in 1891. He married his childhood sweetheart, Nettie Marie Marvin in 1914. In 1920 he became an executive with the energy company Cities Service Company, serving as president from 1940 to 1953. He rose to become one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States.

Immediately after his death his widow, Nettie Marie Jones, donated his private hunting and fishing retreat (which had hosted President Eisenhower and King Mahendra of Nepal) to the University of Rhode Island, creating the W. Alton Jones Campus. The campus closed in June 2020 because of continuing financial struggles over several years.