Dr. Jose Jones is not the typical text-book-toting educator.
A marine biologist and scuba diving instructor, a Fulbright Scholar, and a graduate of Georgetown University with a Ph.D in Marine Biology, Jones spends much of his life underwater and has excelled in a career where few blacks have ventured.
Over the past 50 years, Jones has traveled to more than 40 countries and logged more than 6,000 scuba dives. He has certified more than 2,500 people around the world to scuba dive, most of them black – and has not charged one cent.
Jones founded the all-black Underwater Adventure Seekers Scuba Diving Club (UAS) on February 25, 1959 where he began training divers through the British Subaqua System before either the national scuba certifying agencies were established.
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A veteran of the Korean War, a combat swimmer in the U.S. Army and a recipient of the Purple Heart, Jones is perhaps the most visible black scuba diver and marine scientist in America.
"As a kid, I was always interested in travel and exploring," Jones told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "I would read National Geographic and imagine myself in those far-way places. By the time I was in my 20s, I had circumnavigated the globe."
Today, Jones leads nearly 70 black divers on UAS summer trips to places like Belize and Egypt, where local dive operations say Jones brings the largest groups of divers they’ve ever seen – black or white.
In 1991, Jones co-founded the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, a national organization of black professionals with 50 clubs across the country and around the world including Africa and the Caribbean. NABS also sponsors a youth summit, community outreach, and pilgrimages to the wreck of the Henrietta Marie slave ship, which sank off the coast of Key West, Florida in 1700.
Last year, Jones was the first black recipient of one of the dive industry’s most prestigious honors: the DAN/Rolex Award. Ebony magazine once described Jones as "the black Jacques Cousteau," but folks who know Jones simply refer to him as "Doc."
"We had no idea this would turn into national and international endeavor," Jones said in an interview. "But this organization is about camaraderie, about helping each other, diving together, traveling, exploring and learning about marine science."
Jones started annual dive summits for black divers 15 years ago. Last year in Curacao, (near Aruba) about 250 divers from across the country convened, and this year divers will meet in Tobago.
"It makes me proud to see black divers coming together," Jones said, "many we taught to swim, snorkel and dive. We’re taking people to places they may not have seen otherwise, not only to dive to, but to experience other cultures and serve as good-will ambassadors."
Jones said black scuba divers instantly embraced the idea of a national organization because many black divers were frustrated diving with white dive operations that were sometimes unfriendly.
He said in the past, members of white dive clubs have criticized Jones for "segregating" black divers and questioned why there is a need for NABS.
"They ask why have a black dive organization," Jones said, "and I say why not?"
Jones said he is proud – and brags often – that the women in UAS are often better divers than the men. About half the members of NABS are women, and Toni McNeal, the chief financial officer for a non-profit in Pennsylvania, was elected last year as NABS’ first female president.
Carlyn Cole, president of the Underwater Adventure Seekers who has known Jones for 25 years, said she was fortunate to be trained by Jones.
"I was in my mid 40s and a non-swimmer," Cole told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "After learning to swim with Dr. Jones' help and the help of other UAS club members, I continued to train and soon, I was ready to pursue my open water certification. I went from, ‘Oh, I don't want to get my hair wet,’ to loving to swim, loving to dive and loving to be in the water."
Thanks to Jones, Cole said, she has traveled and dived in exotic places like Bali and Thailand, Morocco, Egypt, Malaysia, South Africa, Fiji, and most of the islands in the Caribbean.
"We have been introduced to an underwater world that not everyone gets to visit," she added. "We have been trained by one of the best in the business and it's great to be able to dive and share the company with a legend."
As a master dive instructor, Jones has taught thousands of Washington, D.C. residents, adults and children to swim. He introduced scuba diving to the D.C. Secondary Public Schools over 30 years ago. He also introduced one of the nation’s first for-credit college scuba courses to the University of the District of Columbia in 1972.
Jones holds a master’s degree from Howard University in Aquatic Biology and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in Marine Biology. He has also studied Marine Biology at the University of Queensland, Australia for two years as a Fulbright Scholar. As a National Science Foundation Fellow he studied Marine Invertebrate Zoology at the Duke University Marine Station.
In 1995 at the Diving Equipment Marketing Association show in San Francisco, Dr. Jones received the Scuba Schools International (SSI) Platinum 5000 Award for logging over 5000 dives and contributing to the development of recreational scuba diving in America.
Jones and NABS have been recognized in over 40 publications including The Washington Post, New York Times, National Geographic and also by NBC, BET, CNN, Discovery Channel, The History Channel and many local radio and television stations.
He has been recognized by the dive industry for his many accomplishments and his tireless resources to the diving industry. Jones is also a scuba diving and spear-fishing champion, underwater photographer/videographer. He also is a novice skydiver, avid skier and six-degree black belt in Taekwon-do.
Jones is, as one longtime friend put it, "a true Renaissance man."
Jones has touched so many lives over the years in a variety of disciplines that he can’t always keep track of all the people he has counseled or inspired.
But some students stand out more than others.
Two years ago, on a connection through Las Vegas, Jones noticed a tall, formidable black gentleman sitting in the departure area waiting for a flight. Jones approached the brother and said hello.
"Master Jose?!" the man exclaimed, standing and giving Jones a hug and recalling the days in D.C. where Jones taught him martial arts as a youngster.
The gentleman spoke of how Jones was patient and nurturing and how much he appreciated Jones’ leadership when he was young. To this day, the man said, he still lives by the positive principles that Jones instills in all of his pupils.
That brother, who is seen by millions of football fans on television, is James Brown – sports announcer and host of "The NFL Today" show on CBS.
"I’m so proud if him," Jones said of Brown. "I’m proud of all my students."
