Honorary degree recipients named for USU Commencement

Left to right: Paul Anthony Jones, Jonathan W. Bullen, Mia B. Love, and Gary E. Stevenson

He was an accomplished wide receiver and kick return specialist for Aggie football teams of the 1980s and later, with two degrees from Utah State University, Paul Jones launched a 37-year career in higher education.

On Thursday, May 4, he will receive an honorary doctorate degree and serve as commencement speaker for the 136th Utah State University graduation ceremony on campus.

Dr. Paul Anthony Jones is currently serving as the 10th president at Fort Valley State, a fellow land-grant university in Georgia that signed a five-year partnership with USU last year to collaborate on activities of mutual interest.

USU President Noelle E. Cockett called him a visionary leader and strategic thinker whose contributions to Utah State over the years have been invaluable.

Also receiving honorary doctorate degrees during the ceremony will be Jonathan W. Bullen, philanthropist and businessman; former Utah Rep. Mia B. Love and Gary E. Stevenson, local entrepreneur and current member of the Quorum of the Twelve in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Dr. Jones and his wife Sylvia, also a USU graduate, met and married as students in Logan. Both Jones’ children are USU alums and their son Isaiah serves as a senior director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at USU.

Jonathan Bullen is a real estate developer, a career he followed after success in the broadcasting business. He began as general manger of KVNU radio in Logan. He formed the JWB Cable Company which he later sold to Sonic Cable.

Love was elected mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah in 2009 and is a former member of the U.S. Congress, representing the 4th Congressional District of Utah. Currently she is the National Outreach Coordinator for USU’s Center for Growth and Opportunity in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

Stevenson is a Cache Valley native and Huntsman School of Business graduate. As USU students in 1977 Stevenson and Scott Watterson co-founded the exercise equipment manufacturing company now know as iFIT. He has served the Church as a full-time general authority since 2008.

The commencement ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. May 4 after a processional on the Logan campus starting on the Quad at 8:20 a.m.

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1 Comment

  • KA March 14, 2023 at 5:11 pm Reply

    Love? That loon? Must be the token Q pick.

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