Lou Jones participated for the men's track and field team at Manhattan, before winning gold as a member of the United States 4x400 meter relay team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Jones also claimed gold at the 1955 Pan-American Games in the 400 meter dash with a world-record time of 45.4, before clocking a 45.2 in the 1956 United States Olympic trials and took fifth at the Olympics. As a senior in 1954, he won the 440-yard IC4A Championship, which helped to catapult his aforementioned success. Following his athletic career, he would have a successful career as an educator at New Rochelle High School, Queensborough Community College and Manhattan College. After leaving the academic world, he worked within the county government as an equal employment opportunity coordinator in the Westchester County Equal Employment Opportunity Office.