NCCU Names New Deputy Athletic Director

DURHAM, N.C. – NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Louis “Skip” Perkins has announced the appointment of Chris Jones Sr. as the new Deputy Athletic Director for External Operations at North Carolina Central University, effective immediately.

Jones returns to his alma mater as a veteran fundraiser with well over a decade of experience. He will oversee the revenue-generating areas of the NCCU Athletics department, which includes fundraising, corporate sponsorships, marketing, ticketing, and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness). In addition, Jones will have sports oversight of men’s basketball and other sports.

Most recently, Jones spent time with the development teams in the athletics department at both Rutgers University and Temple University. Jones held the title of Associate Athletics Director for Development at Rutgers, overseeing all major gift fundraising for the Scarlet Knights. Prior to that, Jones was the Senior Associate Athletics Director and Assistant Vice President of Development at Temple. In that role, Jones served on the executive leadership team, which oversaw the university’s 150-person institutional advancement staff.

“Chris brings a wealth of experience to our team, and his diverse background and familiarity of our campus and community will be beneficial to the NCCU Athletics program,” said Dr. Perkins. “His proven success in athletics fundraising and development will certainly benefit our ability to improve athletic revenues and further enhance NCCU Eagle athletics.”

As a member of the advancement team at Temple, Jones helped set record-breaking fundraising success and three consecutive years of over $100 million raised.

Prior to his tenure with the Temple Owls athletics department, Jones served two years as the Director of Development for Athletics at Clarion University (2016-18), where he oversaw all athletics fundraising. In his time with the Golden Eagles, Jones secured the second-largest gift in the history of Clarion athletics.

From 2014-2016, Jones worked at Lincoln (Mo.) University, where he built from the ground up and served as the Executive Director of the Blue Tiger Athletics Club. Jones doubled the membership in a year and quadrupled social media interactions. He was part of a team that was responsible for the highest fundraising total in the history of the institution.

Jones spent three years at NCCU to start his career, first as a Development Associate and then Development Coordinator. His primary responsibilities included managing the day-to-day operations of the Eagle Club and securing corporate sponsorships.

A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Jones earned both a bachelor’s degree in physical education (2009) and a master’s degree in athletic administration (2013) from North Carolina Central University. Jones is currently a doctoral candidate at Temple University where he will obtain his degree in higher education in May of 2024.

Jones is a proud alumnus of the Learfield/IMG College Minority Academy (2019) the Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute (formally known as the NCAA Leadership Institute, 2018) and is an active member of several professional organizations. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member and capstone advisor in the Sports Management Graduate Program at Georgetown University.