Dr. Christopher M. Jones is Executive Director and Lead Maker of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. He has graduate degrees in nuclear engineering and urban planning, and 20 years of experience in energy and infrastructure, diversity, community development, housing and management. Formerly a principal at BCT Partners, Jones was lead executive on numerous multimillion-dollar federal projects. As executive director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) in Boston, Mass., he 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), he 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. An Arkansas native, Jones has served on or supported several boards of directors and spent one year as an algebra teacher in a Boston public school. Jones 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 Jones, live in Little Rock with their three beautiful daughters.