The ACI Foundation has established the JoAnne K. and Cecil L. Jones Carolinas Fellowship through generous funding by the ACI Carolinas Chapter. The new award, the second honorary fellowship that this chapter has funded, was announced at the ACI Foundation 2022 donor recognition reception. The ACI Carolinas Chapter created both fellowships to use chapter resources to support the young men and women who will enter and shape the future of the concrete industry, and to engage more students in ACI and industry activities by establishing more student chapters in the Carolinas. The chapter named the new fellowship in honor of JoAnne and Cecil because of their tremendous dedication for the concrete community and the Carolinas Chapter of ACI.

“The ACI Carolinas Chapter is thrilled to support the ACI Foundation with a fellowship in honor of Cecil and JoAnne Jones,” stated Hensley, ACI Carolinas Chapter President. “Cecil has been a mentor to many industry professionals over the years and contributed tirelessly to the Carolinas Chapter with a kind smile and a warm heart. We congratulate him and JoAnne on this honor and thank them for their support of ACI and the ACI Carolinas Chapter.”

Cecil L. Jones, FACI, President of Diversified Engineering Services, Inc., Raleigh, NC, USA, which he founded in 2009, provides consulting services to a wide range of clients. He performs transportation materials-related research, product evaluation and implementation of new technologies and materials, specification development, materials quality management, and training. Jones has been active in ACI for over 25 years and has served as Chair for several ACI committees. He was named the 2010 ACI Educational Activities Committee Member of the Year and received the 2015 ACI Henry L. Kennedy Award.

The new JoAnne K. and Cecil L. Jones Carolinas Fellowship will be awarded annually to students who are either Undergraduate, Masters, or PhD students in construction, design, education, or materials programs during the year of the award. The student should be an active member of an ACI Student Chapter affiliated with the Carolinas Chapter; a student in good standing with a University in North Carolina or South Carolina; or an active member of an ACI Student Chapter in the United States. The new fellowship award will be administered by the ACI Foundation and will be open for applicants in mid-2022 for the ACI Foundation’s 2023-2024 awards cycle.

The ACI Foundation offers fellowship and scholarship opportunities to students whose studies relate to the concrete industry. To learn more about the ACI Foundation and its councils, visit ACIFoundation.org.