James Peter Jernberg Jr., President and CEO of Jackson Academy, was named the Delta State University 2008 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. He was honored on October 31, at the annual DSU Alumni Service Awards Luncheon.
The Outstanding Alumnus of the Year award is presented to an alumnus who has made significant contributions to human or institutional programs in which a situation, an institution or a movement has been materially changed for the better because of that individual’s personal participation.
Jernberg, a native of Sumner, received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Delta State University. He later earned AA and AAA certificates in Education Administration from DSU. His professional career began at Indianola Academy, where he served as a teacher, coach, principal, and headmaster from 1967-1988. In 1988, he was appointed headmaster of Jackson Academy and was named president and CEO in 2005.
As a student at Delta State, Jernberg was active in the Student Government Association, serving as vice president and president. He also was president of Kappa Alpha Order. As an alumnus, he has served as president of the Alumni Association and also as president of the DSU Development Foundation.
As a professional educator, he is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and a member of the founding board for AdvancED, the governing body for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) and the North Central Association of College and Schools, Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. The eight-member board provides oversight for accreditation standards in 30 states and 65 foreign countries. He is chair–elect of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. Jernberg is a member of the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) board of trustees and is the first Mississippian elected president of SAIS.
Jernberg attributes his Delta State education and experiences, along with his faith, as cornerstones in the shaping of his personal and professional philosophies. He is married to Patricia Wolfe, a 1967 Delta State graduate. They have a daughter, Jennifer Hughly, who resides in Charlottesville, Va. with her husband Brian, a medical student at the University of Virginia.
And then one pitch essentially ended it all. On a cool, wet night in Cleveland, Ferriss felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder in the seventh inning when he snapped off a curve ball for a bases-loaded, inning-ending shutout. Incredibly, he finished the game and the shutout. By game's end, the shoulder was numb. The next day he couldn't lift his arm above his shoulder. Doctors didn't know it then, but he had torn the labrum in his right shoulder. He was never the same.
