“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” -Proverb
A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Dr. Chris Jones has spent his career promoting science, engineering, faith, equity, and inclusion. With graduate degrees in nuclear engineering and urban planning, 20 years of experience in innovation, energy and infrastructure, diversity, community development, housing and management, Jones is an ordained minister who is uniquely suited to address innovation from multiple fronts.
Chris was the executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurs, creatives, supporting makers, and advancing the infrastructure for entrepreneurs in Arkansas and the entire region.
Jones has led and participated in research projects in engineering, physics, planning, housing and the social sciences, including an 18-month study on the future of nuclear power. As a principal at BCT Partners, Chris was lead executive on numerous multimillion-dollar federal projects. He has served on or supported several boards of directors and spent one year as an algebra teacher in a Boston public school.
As executive director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) in Boston, Mass., Jones secured more than $6 million in funds for the organization and supported a community of active and engaged residents. As assistant dean for graduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Jones led efforts that doubled minority enrollment and more than tripled minority applications to MIT graduate programs. His academic research ranges from plasma fusion and nuclear nonproliferation to the social impact of large-scale energy infrastructure systems.
Chris has always been guided by his strong Christian faith. He put that faith into practice in his everyday life by teaching Sunday School, Bible Study, and preached in numerous churches. He was licensed and ordained as a minister in 2017.
Chris holds five degrees, including a B.S. in mathematics and a B.S. in physics from Morehouse College, where he received a full scholarship from NASA and served as student body president; an M.S. in nuclear engineering and an M.S. in technology and policy from MIT, and a Ph.D. in urban studies and planning from MIT. He and his wife, Dr. Jerrilyn D. Jones, an emergency room physician at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science (UAMS) and Arkansas State Medical Director for Preparedness and Response, live with their three daughters in Little Rock. Dr. Jerrilyn Jones, who was raised in Montgomery, AL., attended Howard University for undergraduate school, earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and her Masters in Public Health from Boston University.
