Ken B. Jones
Commissioner
MIAA (1981-97)
Jones is credited for constructing the foundation for where the MIAA is today. Jones was appointed as the MIAA's first full-time commissioner in 1981 and served for 16 years.
Under Jones, the MIAA began sponsoring championships in women's athletics in 1982, including volleyball, softball, basketball, cross country, track & field and tennis. Jones was responsible for expanding the borders of the MIAA into the state of Kansas, adding Pittsburg State, Washburn and Emporia State under his watch.
As a result, the league's name was changed from the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Association to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, with the "MIAA" acronym being maintained. In addition to the three Kansas schools, Southwest Baptist, Missouri Southern, and Missouri Western joined the M-I-double-A under the supervision of Jones. The 1989 addition of MSSU, MWSU, PSU and WU was the conference's largest expansion to date.
Jones retired in 1997 and passed away in May of 2004. In his honor, the conference established the Ken B. Jones Award in 1994 to honor the M-I-double-A's top male and female student-athlete each year. The award is now in it's 17th year.