Fresh into retirement, Cyndi (Cynthia) Jones, Ph.D. 鈥�81 is as full of spirited youth as she must have been in her cheerleader days, when she launched a career of defying expectations and mastering challenges. Together with husband, Rick Jones, who matches her brainy enthusiasm and generosity, the pair are 鈥渁ll in,鈥� pledging their entire estate to Augsburg as part of its Great Returns campaign.
鈥淲e thought it would really make a difference to someone in their lives, as it did for me,鈥� says Cyndi, a nuclear engineer and Augsburg Regent. She earned other degrees from other schools鈥攁 Master鈥檚 in health physics from Georgia Tech and a Master鈥檚 and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland鈥攂ut those schools are already well-endowed, she points out, and it鈥檚 doubtful their students get the personal support and affirmation that Cyndi treasured at Augsburg. Besides, for many Augsburg students then and now, 鈥渆very cent counts.鈥�
As a high school student from Foley, Minnesota, Cyndi had no plans to become a nuclear physicist and eventual senior technical advisor for nuclear security at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If she imagined she would someday monitor Japan鈥檚 nuclear crisis, travel the world to teach radiation safety, or enjoy four years living in Vienna, Austria, as the US nuclear safety attach茅 to the U.S. Ambassador, she didn鈥檛 let on. She was busy excelling on the clarinet, editing the school newspaper, and participating in band and theater. She also took physics and chemistry.
When she walked into the physics room that first day, the high school teacher thought she was lost. 鈥淭yping is down the hall,鈥� he said, pointing. Cyndi鈥攚hose Polish dad was a machinist and English mom sold men鈥檚 clothing and spent nine years managing a household without running water鈥攄id not flinch. Despite her instructor鈥檚 initial vociferous doubts, she flourished. Again and again. The first in her family to attend college, she rejected a full scholarship at St. Cloud State University to attend Augsburg, where she was personally welcomed by its 鈥渂rilliant band director鈥� and planned to major in music, working three jobs to supplement a partial scholarship.
This time fate would throw down the gauntlet. Climbing into the window of a renovated old house during a toga party, the vivacious Augsburg freshman collided with a bag of cement, breaking her left hand, which needed 13 weeks in an L-shaped cast to heal. Unable to play her clarinet, she spent J-term studying Physics for the Life Sciences with Professor Mark Engebretson, who recognized that she 鈥渉ad a knack.鈥� Physics, Chemistry, and Calculus followed.
鈥淢ath and music are closely related,鈥� Cyndi notes. 鈥淚 had fabulous professors.鈥� Dr. Ken Erickson encouraged her to forego some side jobs to focus on her grades; she became only the third woman to graduate in physics from Augsburg. 鈥淗e had a profound effect at a turning point in her career,鈥� Rick says. 鈥淗e gave her sound advice: to follow her passion.鈥�
Career rewards lagged, but Augsburg did offer her a $100/month stipend to teach the weekly Physics lab. And about a year after graduating, Cyndi, in her bathing suit, at her second job at the Fairview-St. Mary鈥檚 swimming pool, took a phone call: an offer to fly down to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for an interview as a health physicist (Augsburg Professor Kermit Paulson had introduced Cyndi to health physics). She accepted and was offered the job on-site. 鈥淚 taught the instrumentation lab for 5- and 10-week health physics courses, and memorized the students鈥� names by the end of the first week,鈥� she recalls. One of them鈥擱ick鈥斺�渨as really cute.鈥�
Rick remembers thinking the same of her. 鈥淪he was something else鈥攐ne very smart lady, very motivated. I told her she was the one I wanted to marry, however long it took.鈥� (One year.) A California native, USC graduate and erstwhile dental hygienist, Rick served eight years in the Navy before transitioning to civil service in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Master鈥檚 in radiation biology at Georgetown and retired in 2005 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Energy. He has been instrumental in advocating for Augsburg, recognizing how much her experience there meant to his wife.
Cyndi also cites the stewardship of President Paul Pribbenow as key to their gifting decisions. 鈥淗e was genuinely interested in what Augsburg had done for me and has a vision for what he can do for students. He has a personal passion, a real understanding of what alumni have gone through and what kind of future Augsburg can provide for its students.鈥�
Cyndi and Rick have supported Augsburg in several ways, including funding the Professor Kenneth N. Erickson Physics Scholarship and, in 2017, commemorating the new physics lab, nicknamed Landow鈥檚 Photon Shop in honor of Cyndi鈥檚 dad (her maiden name was Landowski) and aptly subtitled Physics: The Maestro of Science!
鈥淎ugsburg was such a unique experience, and I think it鈥檚 still that way,鈥� says Cyndi, the white Minnesota girl who got to interact with people from all over the world, study religions unlike her own, and benefit from the small-town, personal-touch vibe in the big-city center. 鈥淭hey make sure they help you finish. They鈥檙e not just there to take your money. They know you鈥檙e there to learn,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a real honor and pleasure to be on the Board two different times.鈥�
And what about that high-school naysayer? Cyndi and Rick invited him to their wedding, where he owned up to his mistake and confessed how proud he was of her, a sentiment the Augsburg faculty and administration undoubtedly share.
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