Ellington

Jackson State University named Debra Mays-Jackson its chief of staff for JSU President William Bynum Jr. on July 24. As chief of staff, she will have oversight of JSU's department of public safety, which involves campus police and emergency services; student affairs, which covers fraternities and sororities, student government associations and residential activities; internal audits of university assets; and management of JSU's Title III grants.

"I hope that, in this position, I'm able to help President (William) Bynum realize his mission and carry out his vision for bettering the university," Mays-Jackson told the Jackson Free Press. "I'm excited to be part of a team that's moving toward making my alma mater better and stronger for years to come."

Mays-Jackson, 49, grew up in Terry, Miss., and graduated from Terry High School. She attended Hinds Community College in Utica, where she graduated with an associate's degree in music education with an emphasis in piano performance in 1989. She then enrolled at Jackson State, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music and piano performance in 1991, and a master's degree in music education in 1993.

Despite focusing on music in school, Mays-Jackson ultimately decided that she didn't wish to pursue a career as a musician and decided to try teaching music instead. After graduating, she spent several years working as a substitute teacher for Jackson Public Schools and taught choir at Powell Middle School.

"I got into substitute teaching not knowing that education would turn out to be my calling," Mays-Jackson said. "I've always been a servant and wanted to help others, and once I tasted what it was like being in the classroom and teaching students, ... I decided that was what I wanted to do. I enjoyed working with students and the structure of it all and had a lot of mentors who encouraged me to keep pursuing teaching along the way."

After deciding to become a full-time teacher, she returned to JSU, where she received a specialist degree in educational administration and supervision in 2001. She received a doctorate in the subject from Mississippi State University in 2005.

Mays-Jackson served as the assistant principal at Hardy Middle School from 2002 to 2004 and Murrah High School from 2004 to 2007. She accepted the position of principal at Forest Hill High School in 2007, and in 2012, she transferred to JPS' central office, where she was the executive director of academic support for high schools until 2013.

Mays-Jackson went on to become the vice president of the Hinds Community College Utica campus in 2013.

The Mississippi Scholastic Press Association named her Administrator of the Year in 2009. She was also the Mississippi Department of Education's 2012 Administrator of the Year Congressional finalist and received the Phi Theta Kappa National Distinguished College Administrator award in 2017.

Mays-Jackson has been married to George Torrie Jackson Jr. for 12 years. They have two sons, Cameron, 20, and Kendall, 17.