Professor Clarence B. Jones

Scholar in Residence and Visiting Professor at the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute
Stanford University

Clarence B. Jones is currently a Scholar in Residence and Visiting Professor at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA and an Executive Advisor to Marks Paneth & Shron, LLP an auditing and consulting services firm headquartered in New York. From 1960 until April 4th, 1968, he was one the closest political and influential confidantes, an advisor, lawyer and draft speech writer for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

During his years of work with Dr. King he became the first African-American to become a partner in a Wall Street investment banking firm, Carter, Berlind & Weill, Inc. (Sanford I. Weill and Arthur Levitt, Jr).

Twice selected by Fortune Magazine as "A Business Man of The Mont ", he founded several successful financial, corporate and media–related organizations.

Professor Jones has served as Investment Banking Consultant and Advisor to the governments of Jamaica, The Bahamas, Zambia and the Boxing Commission of Zaire in liaison with the first ever outside of the US world heavyweight boxing championship event in 1974 between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

Jones served a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement via his prodigious fund-raising in support of Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

He is the recipient of numerous awards and citations, including, but not limited to:

• A White House Letter of Commendation Awarded by President William Jefferson Clinton for his work in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.
• The Isaiah Award from the American Jewish Congress in 2006.
• The Silver Shingle Award for Distinguished Public Service, from the Alumni Association of Boston University School of Law.
• Invited Guest of Honor by The Office of the Mayor of Paris, France and invited guest of honor, December 2008, by office of the Mayor of Paris, France for the December 2008 auspicious dedication and naming of a public Park in Paris commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Selected to by Rutgers University School of Law–Newark, New Jersey to Deliver the 2008 Paul S. Miller Distinguished Lecture
• Featured Cover Story of January/February 2008 Columbia College TODAY, Quarterly Alumni Magazine, Columbia University.

Author of "What Would Martin Say?" published by Harper Collins in 2008 he is a frequently requested guest on television and radio and by various corporations worldwide.

Professor Jones’ latest book, "BEHIND THE DREAM – Inside the Speech That Transformed A Nation" is scheduled for publication by Palgrave Macmillan, January 4th, 2011. In his book, he provides a confidential never before disclosed, first person narrative description from within the organization of The March On Washington For Jobs and Freedom of Dr. King’s preparation and delivery of his monumental "I Have A Dream Speech" on August 28th, 1963.

Additionally, Professor Jones is writing his autobiography, in which he describes, among other things, his negotiations, on behalf of then New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in the Attica prison uprising in September 1971, inside "Cell Block D" (a murdered prison guard and the shooting of 42 rioting inmates.)

Professor Jones, for the Spring semester 2010, taught his course, "From Slavery To Obama", at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Continuing Studies for those graduate students seeking a Master of Liberal Arts Degree.

He is a frequent guest contributor to the online Huffington Post. In his guest lectures at Fortune 500 companies, Non-Government Agencies, universities and colleges he often debates and discusses the twin challenges and opportunities facing the current generation of African- American leadership: encouraging ’the pursuit of educational excellence together with a greater assumption of personal responsibility’ for conduct which creates adverse social pathologies in our communities.

Professor Jones holds a BA from Columbia College, Columbia University, New York and JD from Boston University School of Law, a Certificate from the New York Institute of Finance and an honorary Doctor of Letters and Communication from Allegheny College, Allegheny, PA .