I. King Jordan
| Irving Jordan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 8th President of Gallaudet University | |
|
In office March 13, 1988 – December 31, 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Elisabeth Zinser |
| Succeeded by | Robert Davila |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Iving King Jordan June 16, 1943 Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Kephart (m. 1967) |
Irving King Jordan (born June 16, 1943 in Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania) became, in 1988, the first deaf president of Gallaudet University, the world's only university with all programs and services designed specifically for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. That year Gallaudet students, with support from many alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the University, protested the Board of Trustees' appointment of a hearing person to the presidency.
After the week-long protest Deaf President Now, the Board reversed its decision and named Jordan, one of three finalists for the position, the eighth president of Gallaudet and the first deaf president since the institution was established in 1864.
He appears in the 2011 disability rights documentary Lives Worth Living.
Jordan is a native of Glen Riddle, a small town near Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Jordan was born to hearing parents, with no other instances of deafness in his family. After graduating from Penncrest High School in 1962, he enlisted in the US Navy and served four years. Jordan became deaf at the age of 21, when after driving a motorcycle without a helmet he was flung into the windshield of a car and suffered two skull fractures, a fractured jaw and a concussion, severing the nerves in one ear completely and damaging the nerves in the other.
Jordan earned his doctorate in psychology. He was serving as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University when he was chosen as candidate for the university presidency. As professor, department chair, dean, and president, Jordan has made numerous scholarly contributions to his field. He has been a research fellow at Donaldson's School for the Deaf in Edinburgh, Scotland, an exchange scholar at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and a visiting scholar and lecturer at schools in the French cities of Paris, Toulouse, and Marseille.
...
Wikipedia