Honoring the Legacy of UBTech’s Fifth President, Dick Jones
It is with deep respect that we announce the passing of Richard “Dick” Jones, the fifth President of UBTech. He passed away peacefully at his home in Fort Duchesne on July 28, 2025.
Mr. Jones began his presidency in 1997, during the institution’s time as the Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center. He notably became the first president to serve under the new name, Uintah Basin Applied Technology College, following the name change in 2000.
In recognition of his lasting contributions, Mr. Jones was honored with the prestigious UBTech Champion Award in 2020. To commemorate his legacy, we are republishing the article that celebrated his achievements at the time of that award.
UBTech Champions Night honors Dick Jones
January 24, 2020
By Lezlee E. Whiting
Richard “Dick” Jones didn’t foresee the way his career would end up when he graduated from the University of Colorado with dual degrees in electrical engineering and business management.
It turns out that Jones career positioned him to be the man who led Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center into the major milestone of becoming a college. He was also the man responsible for carrying the torch for years and through myriad of challenges to promoting plans for the long-awaited establishment of a Vernal campus for the college.
Jones was honored recently by Uintah Basin Technical College (UBTech) as a Champion of Education. This is the fifth year the college has held the special night to honor someone who champions the cause of technical education.
“As the pioneer of technical education in the State of Utah, UBTech has been shaped by the hands of many wonderful leaders throughout our rich history,” said UBTech President Aaron K. Weight.
“Each have left their footprint on our community, through creating greater opportunities for future generations to come,” Weight said. “Dick Jones is one of the most influential educational leaders the Uintah Basin educational community has been privileged to have.”
“Dick is a gentleman, a man of integrity. He cared deeply about his faculty members,” said Paul Hacking, the man who succeeded Jones as president of UBATC, and is the current president of Tooele Technical College. “He didn’t ever want to make a policy that would hurt someone. He expanded several programs during his 26 years with the college, serving for president for six of those years.
“He worked relentlessly to have the opportunity to have the beautiful Vernal campus that we have today,” said Hacking.
Hacking worked closely with Jones when he presided over UBATC.
“He was the flag bearer for the Vernal building project,” said Hacking. “Several of us helped him but the truth is Dick could have dropped the ball at any time but he stuck with it. I don’t think he ever did anything that wasn’t in the best interest of the Uintah Basin, the students and the county. He was a very hard worker. And he didn’t like politics!”
Jones landed in the Uintah Basin in 1969, the same year that America landed a man on the moon. He easily equates his life with what goes on in outer space. Prior to moving to Roosevelt, Jones was employed in the aerospace industry, testing the Minute Man solid propellant missile. A job before that one had him making the enormously large vacuum tubes for radio transmission for television stations.
The family’s move to Roosevelt occurred when Jones was hired to start a new business from the ground up in Fort Duchesne – Ute Fabrication.
“I took a huge gamble and started manufacturing kitchen cabinets and cabinetry around the state,” Jones said.
After a few years, his career took another significant turn when he left Ute Fab. While raising their young family, Jones and his wife Wanda bought in as partners and began running two very different but highly demanding businesses – Basin Builder’s Supply and the Burger Pit which they renamed Basin King Drive-in. The drive-in was located across the street from Union High School (where Kim’s is now). In its heyday it was a favorite hangout for high school students.
It also happened to be the place that administrators from Uintah Basin Area Vocational Center came to talk to Dick one day while he was flipping burgers over the noon rush.
“Marlin (Johnson) and Keith Berquist asked me to teach a class at vocational center. This was in 1977. I was hired to teach one drafting class a day,” Jones said.
The following year the Jones sold both the lumberyard and the drive-in. He was teaching full time for what was then called the “vocational center” becoming a department head and enrolling in college again, this time to obtain a Masters of Education.
Jones favorite part of the job was working with students.
The students were job one for his dad, said his son Bart Jones. “One time they had an audit, the auditor said he needed to at least triple tuition for out of state students, he said, ‘okay 3 times zero is zero – okay I will triple it.’ He was always trying to make things good for the students.”
His dad worked diligently to expand the programs offered so the students would come away with more usable knowledge, said Bart.
Jones wasn’t just leading a college, he was also father to a large family of six children that has grown to a Christmas card list with 91 family names of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other immediate relatives.
Due to Jones’ interest in math and engineering, construction projects became a natural hobby for the family. He passed his knowledge and skill down to his children as they grew older. One year Bart recalled how their dad led his pre-teen and teenage children in a small scale building project and then taught them how to market their work as a business.
“He let us build small doll houses and stools and then sell them,” said Bart. “He taught us the design phase and the building and the profit margin. We had a rather good year.”
He also shared his knowledge and love of learning, teaching at Utah State University – Uintah Basin and traveling to the Seattle area each summer to teach educators at Western Washington University.
Jones helped expand UBTech’s petroleum technology program, along with the CDL and diesel programs. He recalls with some sadness the courses that had to end during his time as well – saddle making, night classes in cabinet making, Dina Enterprises – the sheltered workshop, and the child day care all went away so the college would be in compliance with their new mission and training standards.
“Individuals, families, communities, businesses, and colleges all grow when we give them our hearts,” Weight said. “Thank you President Jones, for giving us yours.”
President Aaron Weight (left) presents the UBTech Champion award to a previous president, Richard “Dick” Jones in 2020.
Past presidents celebrate Dick Jones as a recipient of the 2020 UBTech Champion Award. From left to right, Current UBTech President, Aaron K. Weight; Garth Sorensen, Dick Jones, and Paul Hacking.
