Jordan Honored With Arkansas Press Association Award

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Gerald Jordan

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gerald Jordan, associate professor of journalism at the University of Arkansas, received the Arkansas Press Association’s Distinguished Service Award at the association’s annual SuperConvention. The award was established in 1985 to honor a person who has made significant contributions to the newspaper industry. Previous honorees include Roy Reed and Bob Douglas, both former faculty members of the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism.

Jordan graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1970 with a degree in journalism, and earned his master’s in journalism at Northwestern University in 1971.

He worked as a reporter, editorial writer and media columnist for The Kansas City Star, an editorial writer for the Boston Globe and as a features reporter, Washington correspondent and editor on several desks for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 1982 he was selected as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Jordan joined the faculty of the Lemke Department of Journalism in 1995, although he continued to work summers as an editor at the Inquirer for the next 15 years.

During those summers, Jordan regularly worked with student interns and saw the need for a non-traditional curriculum for journalism students. This led to the idea for the Lemke Newsroom, a block equal to five classes in the fall semester, providing intensive teaching and training for a limited number of students in a realistic multimedia news environment. The journalism department approved the plan, and in 2009 the Lemke Newsroom was launched under Jordan’s leadership. The highly successful program has been turning out skilled and committed young journalists ever since.

Jordan has also been actively involved in diversity efforts at the U of A, working with three chancellors to recruit, retain and support talented African American and other minority students, staff and faculty. He is the first African American to serve as president of the Arkansas Alumni Association Board of Directors, and he is the founding leader of two alumni societies for U of A graduates.

In 2000 Jordan helped his colleague, Katherine Shurlds, create the Lemke Journalism Project, designed to bring more minority students interested in journalism to the university. High school students from the region – most of them Latino – spent six Saturdays on campus learning about journalism and publishing a newspaper. The project was recognized by the Latino Alumni Society of the Arkansas Alumni Association and eventually earned financial support from Tyson Foods.

He was honored in 2010 with the Silas Hunt Legacy Award, the university’s top national award presented for contributing to the diversity of the institution and for professional achievement.

He was also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee.

Jordan was inducted into the Lemke Journalism Hall of Honor in 2012, was honored as Teacher of the Year by the Associated Student Government, and received the Faculty Gold Medal from the U of A Office of Nationally Competitive Awards.

In the community, Jordan is a charter member of the Fayetteville Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, an international organization founded by African-American college men. The chapter has raised more than $100,000 for Northwest Arkansas charities that serve at-risk youth and families.

Jordan is the first and only U of A faculty member to receive the university’s national award as Volunteer of the Year.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.