I. King Jordan

Irving King Jordan (born June 16, 1943) is an American educator who became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in 1988 after the Deaf President Now protest. Gallaudet is the world's only university with all programs and services designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

After the week-long protest known as Deaf President Now, the Board reversed its decision and named Jordan, one of three finalists for the position, the eighth president of Gallaudet, the first deaf president since the institution was established in 1864.

He appears in both the 2011 disability rights documentary Lives Worth Living, and the 2025 documentary Deaf President Now.

Jordan is a native of Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, a small town near Philadelphia. Jordan was born hearing to hearing parents, who had no other instances of deafness in their families. 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. His injuries severed the nerves in one ear completely and damaged the nerves in the other.

Jordan earned his master's degree and his doctorate in psychology at the University of Tennessee. He was serving as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Gallaudet University when he was chosen as a candidate for the university presidency.

As a professor, department chair, dean, and president, Jordan made numerous scholarly contributions to his field. He was 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.

Jordan and his wife, Linda, live in West River, Maryland. They have two grown children and two grandchildren. Jordan loves running daily. As of 2009^[update], he continues to run the Marine Corps Marathon each year. He was a co-founder of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). He is also a member of the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, which presents a yearly award to distinguished achievers in his name.

Jordan became president of the university on March 13, 1988, after the Deaf President Now protest. He holds twelve honorary degrees and is the recipient of numerous awards, among them: the Presidential Citizen's Medal, the Washingtonian of the Year Award, the James L. Fisher Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Larry Stewart Award from the American Psychological Association, and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Association for Community Leadership. In 1990, President Bush appointed Jordan Vice-chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He was reappointed to this position in 1993. In 2006, Jordan received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards.