Our Team

Dennis Jones is President Emeritus  and Senior Advisor of NCHEMS. A member of the staff since 1969, Mr. Jones is widely recognized for his work in such areas as: developing “public agendas” to guide state higher education policymaking; financing, budgeting, and resource allocation methodologies for use at both state and institutional levels; linking higher education with states’ workforce and economic development needs; aligning the policy levers available to state government with state goals; and developing and using information to inform policymaking. His more recent work focuses on the role of university systems in ensuring that the needs of states and all their citizens can effectively and efficiently be met.

Mr. Jones has written many monographs and articles on these topics, has presented his work at many regional, national, and international conferences, and has consulted with hundreds of institutions and state higher education agencies on management issues of all kinds.

Prior to joining NCHEMS, Mr. Jones served as an administrator (in business and in institutional planning) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He received his graduate and undergraduate degrees from that institution in the field of management engineering.

Dennis likes traveling, tending a very large yard, spending time with family, and enjoying the solitude of time spent at his family farm in Nebraska.

In my 50+ years of working at NCHEMS, I’ve never had the same year’s experience twice. Every year has brought new and interesting issues to address and problems to solve. I’ve had the luxury of being able to think outside the box and coloring outside the lines in finding solutions. Most importantly, I’ve had the joy of working with bright, innovative staff collaborators who have also been wonderful human beings. All of this, plus the good fortune to develop friends all over the country through the work I’ve done. In professional life, it doesn’t get any better than this.