NATCHITOCHES – A scholarship honoring Dr. Marcus Jones has been established through the Northwestern State University Foundation to benefit first generation students. Jones was NSU president from 2021-2024 before returning to the University of Louisiana System office earlier this year to serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Baton Rouge businesswoman and NSU alumna Lela Mae Wilkes, a long-time supporter of the university, created with scholarship with a leading gift of $25,000 with the goal of reaching $100,000. Preference for the Dr. Marcus Jones First Generation Scholarship, a need-based award, will be given to first-generation students majoring in business, accounting or music education/performance from central Louisiana or international students. Friends are invited to contribute to the scholarship by visiting https://northwesternstatealumni.com/jones-scholarship/.
Jones was named NSU’s 20th president and first Black president in November 2021 after serving as interim president beginning in July 2021. He served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the University of Louisiana System from 2020-21, where he oversaw the areas of business finance, internal/external audit function, EEO and IT for the System and handled matters of system level importance on behalf of the UL System president. He also oversaw management of budgets, administration, policies and procedures and international relations and acted as the legal liaison for the System.
Jones served as NSU’s executive vice president for University and Business Affairs from 2017-2020 and vice president for University Affairs from 2007-17, where he was a key administrator in the planning, operation and management of the University. Jones was also a member of Northwestern’s faculty for 27 years as an instructor of business, assistant professor of business law and international business, associate professor of business law and international business and holder of the Ben D. Johnson Endowed Professorship.
At the UL System, Jones guides system strategic planning and supports enrollment across the system’s nine institutions. He said he knows first-hand the importance of scholarships in assisting deserving students in getting a degree.
“I benefitted from scholarships in my own academic journey and I understand the challenges that first generation students and their families face,” Jones said. “I am deeply grateful to Lela Mae for her incredible generosity and truly honored to have this scholarship bear my name.”
Wilkes, a pioneer in the petrochemical service industry, is owner and chief executive officer of Brown Eagle, a Baton Rouge company with more than 500 employees that serves chemical companies and other businesses across the mid-South. She earned a business degree at NSU in 1968 and was a member of Purple Jackets, Associated Women Students, PI Omega Pi Business Honor Society and Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. She earned many honors in her professional life and from NSU over the years and has supported through the university through scholarships, service and many other ways.
