Dennis Jones graduated from the University of Miami before receiving his Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970. In 1983 he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona's undergraduate fine arts department instructing classes in sculpture. During his tenure there he served as the Director of the Undergraduate Program and the Graduate Program advisor before joining the Graduate College in the late 1990s. Jones was elected Interim Dean of the Graduate College in 1999.

Jones completed Two For One, one of many large scale commissions in public and private collections, shortly after joining the faculty at the University of Arizona. Best known for his geometric sculpture, Two For One explores Jones' interest in the relationship between mathematics, metals, and aesthetics, a topic he lectures on extensively.