Jiles was born in Frankfurt, Germany.  Although Jiles resided in several places while growing up (Texas, Virginia, and Germany), he considers Prairie View his hometown, as that is where he spent most of his primary and secondary school years.  After completing high school, he attended Prairie View A&M University graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.  PVAMU is more than Jiles’ alma mater; it is a family tradition.  Both his parents, each of his siblings, and all three of his children also graduated from PVAMU.  

In 1980, Jiles joined Exxon Company USA, now ExxonMobil as a Petroleum Engineer.  During his career, he worked in a variety of engineering, information technology, and staff development positions.  Jiles lived in Lagos, Nigeria where he led Mobil Producing Nigeria’s Technical Computing organization.  He also held several other senior ExxonMobil management positions with global reach and influence. In his last assignment, he provided leadership oversight for erecting a technical computer center in Moscow, Russia to further in-country petroleum exploration.  In 2015, he retired from ExxonMobil with over 35 years of service.

Concurrent with his ExxonMobil corporate career, Jiles also owned and ran two privately held companies. Jiles served as President of Empty Eye, Inc., a real estate construction and apartment management company located in Prairie View, TX.  In this capacity, Jiles built multiple apartment buildings in the city of Prairie View to help relieve student-housing shortages.  In addition, Jiles was Vice President and part-owner of Modern Temps, Inc., a Houston-based temporary employee placement agency responsible for placing short-term staff with local businesses within the Houston Metropolitan Area. 

In his civic life, Jiles volunteers in many capacities including serving as a member of Liberty and Chambers Counties Court Appointed Special Advocates supporting the unique needs of foster children.  To help further higher education, he currently sits on the Executive Committee and serves as Board Secretary for the Prairie View A&M Foundation Board of Trustees.  Jiles also served as the Managing Director of the Prairie View A&M Foundation between 2019 and 2020.  He also served as President of the Board of Directors for Artesian Lakes Community Association.  While at ExxonMobil, Jiles served as chair for Exxon’s Gulf Coast Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (GCAME) initiative and worked with a broad spectrum of industry and academic leaders to encourage hundreds of young and disadvantaged minority students in the Houston Metropolitan Area to pursue higher education in math, sciences, and engineering.  As a dutiful alumnus of Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), he served on the PVAMU College of Engineering Dean Selection Committee and the College of Engineering Industry Advisory Board.  Jiles also volunteered to lead ExxonMobil’s recruiting efforts at PVAMU for 25 years, helping to provide career opportunities for a multitude of PV graduates, many of which he still mentors today.  Lastly, Jiles serves as a Connecting Link for the Missouri City Chapter of the LINKS, Inc. helping that chapter provide commendable community service in the Fort Bend County and great Houston area.

Jiles is a member of Unity Church in Houston Texas.  He is happily married to his wife Janice, is the proud father of three children (Kristy, Jiles III, and Jonathan), and six wonderful grandchildren (Davian, Dai, Daiton, Tahj, Jonathan Jr., and Jaden).  

Jiles has traveled extensively (Russia, Dubai U.A.E, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Canada, throughout USA, Mexico, several Caribbean islands, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Venezuela, Norway, Scotland, England, Italy, Germany, France, Nigeria, Australia, and Switzerland).  In traveling, Jiles enjoys spending time with family/friends, fishing, golfing, engaging in outdoor physical activities, and providing community service.