James E. Lyons Sr. is a current member of the board of trustees of Alliant International University and is chairman of the board of trustees at California College of Arizona State University. He has held roles on the boards of the American Council on Education, the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, the National Institutes of Health's Task Force on At Risk Drinking, and others. He formerly served as secretary of higher education in the state of Maryland and as president of Bowie State University, Jackson State University, California State University Dominguez Hills, Dillard University, the University of the District of Columbia, and Concordia College Alabama.