Houston, 1989
• 1987 Academic All-America® Third Team
• 1989 Academic All-America® First Team
Jolanda Jones was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 1999.
Jolanda Jones was born in Houston, Texas and since then she has made her mark there. She attended Alief Elsik High School in Houston where she graduated magna cum laude and was an All-American in both track and field and basketball. She is the only person to win the Texas State 5A Team Championship as an individual.
Jones stayed close to home, attending the University of Houston where she went on to graduate magna cum laude with a degree in political science. While at the University she took an interest in politics, developing a voracious appetite for government and immersing herself into numerous university and community boards and organizations and was a member of the student government.
Jones was the 1989 US Track and Field Heptathlon Champion and earned an unprecedented three NCAA heptathlon championships. She was the runner-up for SWC Female Athlete of the Decade for the 80’s, a two-time Academic All-American while at the University of Houston and a 1989 NCAA Top Six Award winner.
Such accomplishments have earned Jones a spot in the Cougar Hall of Fame at the University of Houston Athletic/Alumni Center. She was inducted into the Texas Black Hall of Fame in 2003.
Jones sat on the board of the 501c(3), the U’jana Conley Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), named after her niece who died in 2000 from disease. She also sat on the board of the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority for the City of Houston.