2026 Distinguished Alumna - Regina Bynote Jones
2026 Distinguished Alumna - Regina Bynote Jones
Regina Bynote Jones ('92) is a global business executive, attorney and corporate leader whose career spans more than three decades across technology, energy, agriculture and corporate governance.
A 1992 business graduate of Sam Houston State University, Jones built her path through grit, calculated risk, relentless education and an extraordinary work ethic — forging a career defined by innovation, strategic leadership and service.
She began in information technology as a programmer with El Paso Energy (formerly Tenneco), later leading IT initiatives at Shell Energy and Vinson & Elkins while earning her Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law Houston. That pairing of business and technical fluency within a legal framework would become her signature.
From there, she rose through the ranks of the energy industry's biggest names, including Dynegy, Schlumberger, Delek US Holdings and Baker Hughes - each role bigger than the last. The work took her around the world, with assignments in Paris, France and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and leadership responsibilities across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Jones has served as the chief legal officer for three publicly traded companies. Today she serves as senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Archer Daniels Midland, a Fortune 50 nutrition and agriculture company.
A lifelong learner regarded as a leading voice on corporate law and the rise of AI, Jones frequently shares her expertise with iconic institutions including The Economist, Ernst & Young, Stanford University and Bloomberg.
That same drive fuels her service. Jones sits on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers and has served on the boards of South Texas College of Law Houston, March of Dimes (Houston), Girl Scouts (Houston), Child Advocates and the State Bar of Texas. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Executive Leadership Council and the Corporate GC Board & Leadership Forum and a graduate of the DirectWomen Board Institute.
Jones’ life doesn't slow down when she leaves the boardroom — it just changes scenery. She and her husband, Kevin Jones, are the founders of Jones Land Ranch, an agrivoltaic and lifestyle ranch in East Texas where solar power, agriculture and Southern hospitality share the same acreage. An advanced open water diver, Jones has explored reefs and depths across the South China Sea, the Caribbean and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans alongside her family of avid scuba divers. When she's not underwater, she's on a trail, in the gym, glamping under the stars or chasing the next destination on her travel list.
Yet Jones counts her greatest achievement closer to home: the family she has built with Kevin (U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Veteran), her husband of 30 years, and their two sons (both Eagle Scouts) who are each following in their parents' footsteps. Kevin Christopher is serving the nation as a military police officer in Germany, and Dylan is following his mother's path through SHSU's College of Business Administration.