Merfyn Jones

In July 2016, Jones was made an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University for services to the University.

Jones was chair of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, a local Health Board responsible for health services for around 694,000 people across north Wales. He took up his appointment on 1 April 2013. A report in 2013 by the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office found that leadership at the board was "fundamentally compromised" because the relationship between the chairman and chief executive had broken down. Following this report, Jones stood down as Chair of the Health Board; the Chief Executive, Mary Burrows, also resigned.

Jones was appointed as the first Chair of Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (the National Welsh Language College). The Coleg, which launched on 1 April 2011, works with the Welsh universities to increase opportunities for students to study through the Welsh language; and is a major component of the Welsh Assembly Government's strategy for higher education, 'For our Future'.

Jones was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to higher education in Wales.

Jones was appointed as the sixth vice-chancellor of the University of Wales, Bangor in 2004. In September 2007 he oversaw the change in Bangor's status, from a College of the University of Wales to a University in its own right, renamed as Bangor University. In his capacity as Vice-Chancellor, Jones was the Welsh Supernumerary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford in the academic year 2004–05. Jones retired as Vice Chancellor in 2010.

On 1 January 2003, Jones was appointed to the Board of Governors of the BBC as BBC National Governor for Wales. He held that position until the end of 2006 when the BBC's Board of Governors was dissolved and replaced by the BBC Trust.

In 2000, Jones presented a 13-part television series for S4C, entitled Cymru 2000. This was a history of 20th century Wales, which featured over 200 interviews with notable figures from Wales' recent history. He was also responsible for writing the book of the same name that accompanied the series. Cymru 2000 received a BAFTA Cymru award in 2000 for "outstanding contribution to history on television".

Jones joined the University of Wales, Bangor in 1990 as a senior lecturer in history. He became head of the School of Welsh History there in 1993 and was appointed to the Chair in Welsh History in 1994. He then served as Dean of Arts and Social Sciences for two years before being appointed Pro-Vice Chancellor in 1998. He was acting vice-chancellor in 2003.

R. Merfyn Jones CBE (born January 1948) is a Welsh historian and broadcaster, was vice-chancellor of Bangor University (2004 to 2010) and a governor of the BBC (2003 to 2006).

His books and articles include The North Wales Quarrymen 1874-1922 (University of Wales Press, 1981), which was awarded the Welsh Arts Council prize for literature. This book provides an analysis of the economic importance of slate extraction to North Wales and also of the rise of trades unionism in the area (and covers the industrial dispute at Penrhyn Quarry of 1900–03).