A former Warren man has been named CEO of the President George H. W. Bush Presidential Library.

David Jones, who grew up in Warren and graduated from Warren Area High School in 1963, said he is an old friend of Bush, having worked for his campaign in the 1970s doing advance work traveling around the country.

This week, the library issued a press release, saying, “The governing board of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation is pleased to announce David B. Jones of Houston as the foundation’s new chief executive officer. Jones succeeds Frederick D. McClure, a Bush White House veteran who served four years as CEO and recently accepted a position as Executive Director of Leadership Initiatives in Texas A&M’s Office of the Provost.”

“Barbara and I feel very blessed indeed to have a trusted friend with David’s unique abilities and leadership taking the reins of our library foundation at an important time,” said Bush. “The gratitude in our hearts for David’s willingness to take on this new challenge is equaled only by our gratitude to our dear friends Fred and Harriet McClure for their four years of dedicated service.”

Jones said his duties will be to run the foundation and coordinate activities between the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate college at Texas A&M University that offers tracks for both international and domestic policy.

Jones will also execute a strategic plan over the next five years guiding the foundation’s fundraising and programming, including, for the first time, opening a satellite office in Houston to strengthen relationships throughout the Bushes’ hometown.

“For many years, David has selflessly served President Bush helping to establish both his presidential library and the Bush School, and then to build an endowment,” said Dean Ryan Crocker, who is retiring this summer from the Bush School. “His is the right appointment coming at the right time in the lifespan of both institutions, as they prepare to enter into full maturity. It’s an exciting time for all of us in the extended Bush 41 family here at Texas A&M.”

Jones noted that the library, as all presidential libraries, is administered by the National Archives and all library employees are federal employees.

Jones said that after leaving Warren he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology, and then went to Boston to work for Pine Manor College.

In 1980, he moved to Houston, Texas, and was recruited to work for a think tank.

Most recently, he served as managing principal at Houston-based Dini Spheris, where he was also a longstanding board member, principal and consultant. During his 28 years with Dini Spheris and its predecessor, Dini Partners, Jones said he helped guide the company’s growth into one of the nation’s leading fundraising consultancies.

His clients included the George Bush Presidential Library, Points of Light Foundation, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, Greater Houston Partnership, Admiral Nimitz Museum, Baylor University, Texas Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, the St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation, Texas High-Speed Train Project, and the Menil Museum.

Jones said he has many relatives who still live in the Warren area.

“My grandfather started Jones Chevrolet, and I believe it is the oldest Chevrolet dealership in Pennsylvania that is still run by the same family,” he said.

He added that his grandfather had 15 children, and when the Jones family holds its reunion this July, “there will be over 300 people attending.”

Jones’ wife Patricia is also a WAHS graduate.