The state’s largest HBCU and the Jackson area’s most prominent university has a new leader, and she’s a familiar face.
The Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning named Denise Jones Gregory as the 14th full-time president of Jackson State University on April 16. Gregory, a JSU graduate, had served as interim president since May 2025.
She replaces Marcus Thompson, who abruptly resigned on May 7, 2025, amid a cloud of controversy and a string of botched or controversial hires by the IHL at JSU. Thompson’s departure had continued the steady churn at the top of the state’s highest profile HBCU. Thompson was the ninth president at Jackson State in the last 15 years, counting interim leaders.
Jones Gregory becomes the 10th president in 16 years, counting interim or acting leaders. Prior to serving as interim president, she worked as provost and vice president of academic affairs at JSU.
“The Board of Trustees put a tremendous amount of time and energy into this search process, and we are confident in Dr. Gregory’s ability to help write the next chapter in Jackson State University’s long history,” said Steven Cunningham, vice president of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Board Search Committee. “I also want to recognize and thank the members of the Search Advisory Constituency, who spent hours reviewing applications and interviewing candidates. Their commitment to this process was critical and deeply appreciated.”
Jones Gregory will be charged with creating stability at JSU’s helm amid a string of steady turnover. Thompson had replaced Thomas Hudson, who also abruptly resigned after being put on paid leave and receiving a vote of no-confidence from the faculty senate. In between Thompson and Hudson, Elayne Hayes-Anthony served as the acting president and wanted the permanent position but was never granted a chance. Hayes-Anthony died this spring at age 72.
The IHL announced that Jones Gregory beat out 78 other applicants for the job.
The IHL said she was “selected following first round interviews of eight candidates, second round interviews of three candidates, and detailed background and references checks conducted by AGB Search consultants.”
Earlier in the day on Thursday, the IHL met. Interviews had continued behind closed doors this week to select the new president. Citing confidentiality requirements little information had been released thus far about the process, including the number of applicants. But IHL Director of Communications John Sewell said the goal had been to make a final selection by the end of the current spring semester.
“We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel,” Sewell said around 11 a.m. An announcement came by press release at 8:05 p.m. that day.
Gregory graduated magna cum laude in 1994 from Jackson State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in chemistry. She earned her doctorate in chemistry from Georgia Tech and completed additional training through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
She is a graduate of the New Presidents Academy through the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and completed the Willa B. Player Executive Leaders Program and the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute Program, both through Clark Atlanta University.
Patrease Edwards, a member of the Search Advisory Constituency and president of the JSU National Alumni Association, also praised Jones Gregory.
“This has been a long and involved process, and we’ve worked closely with the Board of Trustees through the reviewing and interviewing of candidates to reach this point,” Edwards said. “Today we begin a new and exciting part of the story of Jackson State, and we are prepared to support Dr. Gregory as she takes on this role.”
