Eli Jones

Eli Jones III is an academic administrator, entrepreneur, professor, business leader, corporate board member, author, and professional speaker. He is a professor of Marketing and Lowry and Peggy Mays Eminent Scholar at his alma mater, Texas A&M University. He served as a business dean for three flagship business schools, including Dean of Mays Business School at Texas A&M University for six years (from July 1, 2015, to May 31, 2021). He is the former dean of the E. J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University, followed by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

Early life Eli Jones attended A&M Consolidated High School, and after graduation, he attended Texas A&M University. During his initial semester he was an accounting major, and after he switched to journalism. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1982, followed by a master in business administration in 1986 and a PhD in business administration - marketing in 1997.

Career Jones joined the University of Houston as an assistant professor, and he received tenure as an associate professor in 2002; he was a full professor from 2007 to 2008. At the University of Arkansas, he was followed by Dean Matthew A. Waller. From July 2015 to May 2021, he served as the dean of the Mays Business School at his alma mater, Texas A&M University. He was inducted into The PhD Project

Jones served on the International Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) board and served on the Innovation Committee of AACSB; he also served on the board of Administaff and Insperity, and he chaired the Compensation Committee. He currently serves on the International Academy of Marketing Science Board of Governors, and he is on the funds boards of Invesco.

On June 1, 2015, Jones was appointed dean of Mays Business School. His term as dean ended on May 31, 2021. After serving as dean for six years, he returned to the school faculty in the Marketing Department as a full professor and holder of an endowed chair.

Awards Jones was also selected by his academic peers internationally for the American Marketing Association's Sales Special Interest Group's 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for making a significant impact on sales education and research.

Selected works