Gina Ortiz Jones (GRS’03, Pardee’03) Awarded BU Distinguished Alumni Award
On October 1, 2022, Gina Ortiz Jones (GRS’03, Pardee’03) was awarded Boston University’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Presented at the 74th Best of BU Alumni Awards ceremony, Jones was one of seven of BU’s most influential alumni to receive the prestigious award. These awards recognize alumni who are working to change the world in their fields.
Jones is currently the Under Secretary of the United States Air Force. A first-generation American and the daughter of a single mother from the Philippines, she was raised in San Antonio, Texas. After attending BU on a four-year ROTC scholarship, in 2003 Jones earned a BA in East Asian studies and a BA/MA in economics. As Air Force Under Secretary, Jones is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping U.S. Air and Space Forces, and for the well-being of about 700,000 active-duty, guard, reserve, and civilian airmen and guardians around the world. She was confirmed as President Biden’s nominee in July 2021.
In 2018 and 2020, Jones was a Democratic nominee for Texas’s 23rd district. Jones was the second Pardee School alumni to win a Congressional primary in 2018. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Pardee ’11) upset top-ranking House Democrat Joe Crowley in the June 26, 2018 primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District.
For details on all the Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni Award winners, visit BU’s website. For more Pardee School alumni spotlights, visit our website.