JP, who follows in the footsteps of fellow Dundee HSFP clubmen Rob Wainwright, Andy Nicol and Tom Smith, will thus become Scotland's 106th Test match captain when he leads the team in Bucharest on Sunday 5 June.
He said today: "This is an honour that I didn't really expect. It's nice to know that I've been going in the right direction with captaincy at Glasgow."
Frank Hadden, Scotland's head coach, said: "I have known Jonny since the Caledonian Reds days and I have always been impressed with him both as a player and a person.
"I have watched him grow in the role of captain at Glasgow and I believe he is capable of going to the next level in that role and look forward to seeing what he does in the next couple of games."
Jon led Scotland outwith the Test arena during last year's summer tour of Australia, and also has captaincy experience from his days at Mayfield and with the Colomiers under-21 team.
"I tend to be very vocal on the pitch. Off the pitch I think it's important to tap into other guys' strengths. We've a really good group of senior players in the Scotland set-up just now and we'll look to use people who have strengths in different areas. It's nice to know that I've been going in the right direction with captaincy at Glasgow." he said.
Hadden developed that point. "The key to success is the quality of the leadership group and it's great to have on board people with experience like Scott Murray and Chris Paterson, who, I'm sure, will make life a lot easier for Jonny."
JP added: "I think people realise we've been through a bit of a low in the past year with all the changes in the upper echelons of the SRU. We've now got a chance to make a fresh start and there’s a lot of anticipation within the squad to get on with the job."