6/2/2009 - Jackson, Miss.

"I'm grateful to be part of the University of Mississippi now, on its health science campus, and I'm very excited about the future opportunities with the University of Mississippi.  The university is in a great place these days.  Chancellor Khayat has done a wonderful job of leadership. It's frightening to anybody to think about following in his footsteps and taking on the large responsibility of leading the university, but I'm very excited about the opportunity.  I'm looking forward to the visit (to the Ole Miss campus in two weeks). I know that the University of Mississippi has wonderful leadership in place, not just at the chancellor level, but there have been wonderful leaders, a strong faculty doing tremendous work for the last few years, and I'm looking forward to spending time with those folks, listening to them and having an opportunity to have dialogue with them.  This is a great privilege for me and I'm so grateful for the confidence of the IHL Board in naming me the preferred candidate."

Dr. Jones is the vice chancellor for health affairs, dean of the School of Medicine and Herbert G. Langford Professor of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  He is the Med Center's chief executive officer, overseeing five schools and the health system.  A native Mississippian, Dr. Jones graduated from Mississippi College and earned his M.D. and completed residency training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  He had a private practice in Laurel, Mississippi until he went to Korea in 1985 as a medical missionary. In 1992, he returned to the University of Mississippi Medical Center as a faculty member, and has been there ever since. Dr. Jones is actively involved with the American Heart Association and served as the organization's national president for 2007-2008.  He has been named one of the "Best Doctors in America".  He and his wife, Lydia, live in Hazlehurst and are the parents of two children. A biographical sketch and photo of preferred candidate Dr. Jones may be found here.

On Monday, June 15, Dr. Jones will participate in open, day-long interviews on the University of Mississippi campus with various university and community constituency groups (schedule forthcoming). Individuals attending the open interviews will be given the opportunity to provide feedback to the Board of Trustees regarding their impressions of Dr. Jones. At the end of the day, the Board will announce either that Dr. Jones will be the next Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, or that the search will continue.

The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning governs the public universities in Mississippi, including Alcorn State University; Delta State University; Jackson State University; Mississippi State University including the Mississippi State University Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine; Mississippi University for Women; Mississippi Valley State University; the University of Mississippi including the University of Mississippi Medical Center; and the University of Southern Mississippi.

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