 The endowed chair for African-American music, housed in Harvard's African and African-American Studies Department, is believed to be the first in the nation, and is presently held by the ethnomusicologist Ingrid Monson.Distinguished scholar and public intellectual Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a close, personal friend of Jones.In January 2005, Jones was honored by the United Negro College Fund at their annual "Evening of Stars" event for an entertainment career that has spanned over five decades.