Kent's First Female MBA Grad Receives Business Award
KENT, Ohio -- Kent State University alumna Judith A. Jones is the first honoree of the school's Spirit of Women in Business Award. Jones, a 1964 graduate of the College of Business Administration’s master of business administration program, was the first woman to receive an MBA from the university.
The Spirit of Women in Business Award goes to a Kent State alumna who excels in her profession, paving the way for women in business, and is actively involved with the university.
Jones said she chose to attend Kent State because it was affordable and near her hometown of Canton. After receiving her undergraduate degree in finance with Kent State in 1961, she was able to remain at Kent State to receive her MBA because she received a scholarship as a graduate assistant. “I wasn’t trying to be a trendsetter,” Jones said. “I just knew that was what I liked to do and it was what I wanted to do.”
Jones originally wanted to get a job in economics, but there were no careers open in that field for women. The same problem occurred in accounting firms, so she chose to study finance.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Jones went to work for Goodyear Aerospace Corp. in Akron as a market researcher. In 1965, she joined Cleveland Trust, which eventually merged with KeyBank, as an administrative assistant. After being promoted to a security analyst, she then became a portfolio manager for employee benefit accounts. From there, Jones managed nonprofit accounts and eventually became manager of the charitable division, which handled more than $2 billion in assets. Her largest account responsibility was the Cleveland Foundation. In 1999, she retired as senior managing director of Society Asset Management, a division of Key Asset Management. She now lives in Florida.
One of the challenges she faced was dealing with bank customers; her company, she said, used to meet clients at a place called the Union Club in Cleveland, but she wasn’t allowed to enter through the front and had to go in the side door. “The customers were understanding,” she said. “But they were also cautious. People had to get used to the idea of a woman in a position of investment advisor. It was a change for them, but it didn’t feel negative to me.”
Jones will be honored at the Spirit of Women in Business Conference on March 5, which will feature keynote speakers Amy Cuddy and Farai Chideya. Cuddy is a Harvard Business School professor and Chideya is an award-winning journalist, entrepreneur and sociopolitical analyst who looks at the future workplace and economy.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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