- Chair, Board of Trustees
A fourth-generation resident of Jackson County, Mark R. Jones was initially appointed to SCC’s Board of Trustees by the Jackson County Board of Education in 2014. He was sworn in for his fourth four-year term on Sept. 8, 2026.
Jones was appointed for his current term by the House of Representatives of the N.C. General Assembly. A fourth-generation resident of Jackson County, he has served as chair of the Jackson County Airport Authority since 2012.
He previously served four terms on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners and also was past president of both the Cashiers and Jackson County Chambers of Commerce. After spending 36 years as a hospitality professional in Jackson County, Jones retired three years ago.
He’s a past chairman of both the Cashiers and Jackson County Chambers of Commerce, and he’s served on travel authorities for Cashiers and Jackson County.
He is also a former member of the TWSA board, the Jackson County Juvenile Council, the Jackson County Board of Health and the Council of Aging’s board.
Mr. Jones’ ties to SCC run long and deep. His mother, Ann Hervey Jones, worked at Southwestern in the early 1970s. As a teenager, Mark Jones got his first tax-paying job at SCC – where he used a sling blade to maintain the grounds during the daytime. He mopped floors at the college in the afternoon.
He later taught classes in the hospitality and tourism program for SCC and Jackson County Public Schools in the late 1990s, and he served on the culinary arts advisory board for several years.
His current term on SCC’s Board of Trustees expires on June 30, 2030.