Elizabeth City State University’s 10th Chief Executive Officer and the university’s fifth Chancellor. Jones graduated magna cum laude from Howard University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She later earned masters’ degrees in numerical science (1986) and technical management (1991) from The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Jones also earned her doctorate in computer science from George Washington University, becoming the first African American woman to do so. In addition, she has completed the Management Development Program at Harvard University and the Executive Leadership Program at Hampton University. In 2005-06, she was an American Council on Education Fellow hosted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Jones spent the early part of her career (1982-93) in private industry as a defense and electronic systems software engineer and product development manager for Northrop Grumman in Maryland. She then worked for several years as an engineering manager and system architect for other Maryland-based companies before transitioning into higher education. She began her academic career in 1997 in the computer science department at The Johns Hopkins University, where she was a research scientist and adjunct member of the research faculty. In 2000, Jones was recruited to Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., where she served two years as chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science Department before becoming dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), a position she held from 2002 to 2008.

In 2007, Jones was named Benedict’s vice president of sponsored programs and research (later restructured as vice president for institutional effectiveness and sponsored programs). In 2009, she was promoted to senior vice president of the university. Under her leadership, the dollar value of new grants increased by 50 percent over a two-year period. In July 2010, Jones returned to Maryland to become provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bowie State University, a public historically black university. In December of that year, she was named a special assistant serving the University System of Maryland. She returned to the private sector in fall 2011. Over the course of her career, Jones has secured and administered more than $100 million in proposals, grants and contracts from the federal government and private sector companies.