Dr. Otha Burton Jr., executive director of the Institute of Government at Jackson State University, was elected president of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees through the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Burton was first elected to the JPS School Board in 2010. In 2013, he was named executive director of the Institute of Government at JSU. Prior to that, he served as chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and associate professor and associate dean of the School of Policy and Planning at JSU. From 1998–2005, Burton was the chief administrative officer for the City of Jackson. He and his wife Anne have one son, Michael, who attended JPS schools and was a music emphasis student at Power APAC. Burton served as co-president of the Boyd Elementary PTA from 1988–1989.