Members of the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning have chosen well in selecting Dr. Dan Jones as their choice to follow Chancellor Robert Khayat at the University of Mississippi and Dr. Hank Bounds as new commissioner of the IHL system.

Vicksburg has a special affinity for Jones, who has been a vice chancellor and head of University Medical Center in Jackson, because he grew up here and graduated from Warren Central High School before embarking on a career in medicine. And it’s been quite a career, starting with private practice, then years of missionary service and clinic management in South Korea that have been followed by a professorship and research at Mississippi’s medical school.

Jones is known nationally and internationally as the lead physician on one of the key medical research projects in the last decade. His colleagues made him spokesman for that study. He is also immediate past president of the American Heart Association. In public comments made since the selection, it’s clear Jones understands the challenges that will face Ole Miss in years to come. As a proven and experienced administrator, it’s clear he will devise an aggressive strategy to continue the growth and progress Ole Miss has made as a university under Khayat’s leadership.

Bounds may be less well known, but his quick rise from classroom teacher to principal to superintendent on the Gulf Coast, followed by his tenure as state superintendent of education, indicates those around him recognize his insights and his commitment to education. He is to follow Dr. Tom Meredith as commissioner of higher education, a role that coordinates fiscal and policy matters for all public universities in the state.

Amy Whitten, a member of the College Board, which is likely to confirm the appointments of Jones and Bounds this week, said the company IHL hired to conduct the searches for top executives advertised nationally, but found the best applicants close to home. She said that speaks well of the state. She’s right.