Southern Arkansas University Tech is pleased to announce that Dr. Chris Jones has agreed to be our guest speaker for the 2024 Black History Celebration. Jones was the Democratic Party nominee during the 2022 race for Governor of Arkansas.

A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Dr. Jones was the first African American major party nominee for Governor of the state Arkansas. His campaign kicked-off with the most virial launch video in the nation, and he went on to galvanize a unique coalition of supporters across the state and country.

Dr. Jones’ love for science took him to Morehouse College, where he earned physics and math degrees, to NASA, where he interned under an astronaut and worked on a plasma rocket ship, and to MIT, where he earned two master’s degrees—Nuclear Engineering and Technology and Policy—and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning.

The son of two preachers, his love for Christ drove him to become an ordained minister. His love for community and people opened the door for him to teach high school math, serve as an Assistant Dean for Graduate Education at MIT, run a community-based organization in Boston (The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative), lead a maker space in Arkansas (The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub) and eventually run for Governor of Arkansas. He recently published a thirty-day devotional entitled Quantum Pearls.

More than anything, Dr. Jones loves his wife of twenty years, Dr. Jerrilyn Jones. She is an Emergency Medicine Physician and United States Air Force veteran. They have three beautiful daughters, Jordyn, Janelle, and Jasmine.

The SAU Tech Black History Celebration is scheduled for February 22, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the SAU Tech Student Center. Tickets are available at http://www.sautech.edu/sautech-events/. All funds raised go to support the Betty J. Lewis Minority Scholarship Fund.