Dr. Edward G. "Ted" Jones, an acclaimed investigator of the human brain at the University of California, Irvine, has been named director of the Center for Neuroscience at UC Davis. Jones, 59, will join the Davis faculty on July 1 as a professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine. He will be the academic leader of the 6-year-old Center for Neuroscience and be responsible for its ongoing growth and development. Currently, there are 15 resident faculty, many faculty elsewhere on campus, and 20 graduate students involved in research at the center. Neurobiologist Leo Chalupa has been director of the center since 1996, when founding director Michael Gazzaniga left to return to neuroscience research at Dartmouth College. "With the arrival of Ted Jones, we are positioned to move to the next level of leadership in the neurosciences," said Mark McNamee, dean of the Division of Biological Sciences. "We have established strengths in systems neuroscience" -- the mechanisms that control activities such as vision and hearing, McNamee said. "Now we'd like to enhance the center's connections to biomedical research, to better understand brain abnormalities and human health. Ted is the ideal person to help us do that." Joseph Silva, dean of the School of Medicine, said, "Many UCD schools and departments look forward to working with Dr. Jones, who is one of the best investigators in neuroscience. His research has been innovative and multifaceted; his schizophrenia work is on the cutting edge." Jones was born in New Zealand and graduated from medical school there in 1962. He earned a doctorate degree at the University of Oxford in 1968. After teaching at Oxford and in New Zealand, he joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., in 1972. He later became a U.S. citizen. In 1984, Jones became chair of the department of anatomy and neurobiology at UC Irvine. He is an authority on brain anatomy and recognized as a leading researcher of the central nervous system. His studies have shown that seemingly minute abnormalities in human brains can cause chemical imbalances and lead to serious, long-term nervous-system disorders, such as schizophrenia. "I am very pleased at the campus-wide support that exists for the development of integrated neuroscience programs at UC Davis," Jones said. "The existing center is uniquely strong in systems and cognitive neuroscience, and I will do everything in my power to maintain that strength while building new areas of strength in cellular and molecular neuroscience." Jones is president-elect of the Society for Neuroscience, a worldwide organization of more than 26,000 scientists and physicians. He is the author of numerous texts and textbook chapters on neuroscience. He sits on the boards of several medical journals. And he belongs to a group of scientists working to establish a database of brain anatomy. Last year, Jones was given an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree by the University of Salamanca in Spain. Founded in 1218, the university is one of the world's oldest and most respected academic institutions. Jones' wife, Elizabeth Oldham Jones, will move with him to Davis. The couple has two adult children.