Dr. Loretta Esther Jackson-Williams, MD

I was the second of twin girls born in 1965 to C. C. and Queen Esther Jackson of Indianola, Mississippi. Older siblings Alvin Jackson and Mavis Jackson Anderson were teenagers at that time. My parents were both working in Sunflower County in education. All of my education was in the Indianola Public School system. After graduating as valedictorian from Gentry High School in 1983, I attended Tougaloo College and obtained a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1987. While in college I participated in the Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program. This program encouraged and enabled me to continue my interest in research as a MD/PhD student at Boston University School of Medicine. This dual program was completed in 1994 and I moved to Oakland, California for residency training in Emergency Medicine which was completed in 1998. While in California I married a wonderful man from Tallahatchie County in Mississippi. His name is James Williams and he is a math specialist who works as an …education consultant. We have two wonderful children who are in the Rankin County Public School system. Both of our mothers live in the state of Mississippi along with a host of immediate and extended family members and friends. Since 1999 I have been a faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. In 2008 I joined the administration in the medical school and currently serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.