Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1952, Jaine Place received a B.S. in business and economics from California State University, Hayward in 1980. During the 80s, she moved to Raleigh with her family so her husband could teach at North Carolina State University's School of Design.

Since 1988, Place has worked in a number of jobs at N. C. State, and was central to the launch and planning of State's Centennial Campus. From 1988 to 1994, she worked as a Senior Associate at Cooperative Strategies, Inc. where she facilitated project planning and proposal development for large government grants for N. C. State and other non-profits. From 1994 through 2000, she served as the Lead Partnership Development Specialist at the Centennial Campus Development Office. There she oversaw recruiting efforts and marketing strategy and contributed to the master planning and building design teams. Since 2000, she has been director of Research Proposal Development at the Division of Research and Graduate Studies.

She has one adult son, Thomas.