Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D.
President, Metropolitan State College of Denver
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| President Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D. |
With an impressive 26-year career in higher-education administration-the last eight at the presidential level-Jordan was named one of the nation's most innovative and entrepreneurial higher-education leaders in the book "The Entrepreneurial College President," by James L. Fisher and James V. Koch. The authors describe Jordan and 16 others as leaders who "appreciate, but are not anchored by, the past and who readily question the status quo, generate innovative ideas, and find ways to prevent organizational structure from discouraging change."
President Jordan grew up in Colorado. He began his career in academia at the University of Colorado as the assistant secretary to the Board of Regents and an attendant instructor in the Graduate School of Public Affairs. From there, he took increasingly prominent positions as an assistant vice chancellor, then vice chancellor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, before becoming the deputy executive director for finance and planning for the Arizona Board of Regents and an adjunct professor in the Center for Educational Leadership at Arizona State University. In 1994, Jordan was named executive director of the Kansas Board of Regents and four years later took over as president of Eastern Washington University.
Jordan's vision is for Metro State to become the preeminent public urban baccalaureate college in the nation. Toward that end, he quickly diversified his cabinet with minority leaders and has greatly boosted the number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty. He plans to improve graduation rates among students of color by offering bachelor's degrees at community college campuses in their neighborhoods and is working on programs to increase retention of minority students. In addition, he has established a goal for the College of achieving the status of Hispanic Serving Institution within the next decade.
President Jordan is establishing Metro State as a major player at the higher-education table in Colorado. For the first time there is a Metro State legislative caucus that works to address the College's needs at the state legislature.
Jordan serves on the board of the Downtown Denver Partnership and was appointed by former Gov. Bill Owens to the Colorado Education Alignment Council, which is working to align high school and college preparation with workforce needs. Recently, the National Collegiate Athletic Association appointed Jordan to a four-year term on its Division II Presidents Council.
Jordan and his wife Ruthie live in downtown Denver. They have two sons, a daughter and six grandchildren.