Maryland’s iSchool is pleased to announce that Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has selected alumna Joni Jones, PhD to serve as Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. Dr. Jones will also be responsible for the operation and management of the Banneker- Douglass Museum (BDM), the State’s official repository of African American material culture.

Dr. Jones earned an MA and a PhD in English from UCLA and after returning to Maryland, earned an MLS from the University of Maryland, College Park. She brings a wealth of skill and energy to the commission and museum, with over ten years of teaching experience combined with advanced training in library science, archival management, and program development. While at the University of Maryland, she lent her talents to the Wiley H. Bates High School Redevelopment Project, now known as Bates Heritage Park and was the first executive director of the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center. Since 2007 she has served as Librarian-Archivist for the Sylvia Gaither Garrison Library at the Banneker-Douglass Museum.

“The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture is looking forward to working with Dr. Jones to not only preserve but share our history with our fellow Marylanders,” said commission chair Theodore H. “Ted” Mack. “African Americans from Maryland are among the greatest thinkers, inventors and educators of the world. Dr. Jones is going to help us make sure everyone knows about it.”