Month: December 2025

Written by: Roshni Singh, Career Stories team

From a first-generation college student to Assistant Vice President of Research Development: The Journey of Dr. Angela Jordan

For October’s Career Stories, we were fortunate to host Dr. Jordan, a proud first-generation college student with an undergraduate, master’s, and ABD in English, and a doctorate in instructional design. Like many of us in the field, Dr. Jordan did not plan a career in research development; her path began as a secretary and has taken her to AVP. Before entering the RD world, Dr. Jordan tried her hand at web design but quickly realized it wasn’t for her. After spending several years as a stay-at-home mom, she joined the University of South Alabama, where she accepted a secretarial position, the only open role in one of the colleges. There, she was assigned to her first proposal development project: a $10 million NSF EPSCOR statewide collaboration. From there, she never looked back. The crash course in RD showed her how much she loved it. With the encouragement of strong mentors, she began taking on more responsibilities, moving from departmental support to the university’s central research office. Over a dozen years, Angela worked her way up through the ranks, eventually being promoted to Assistant Vice President for Research Communications, Development, and Learning.

Discussing her day-to-day activities, Dr. Jordan explained that she is currently running an exciting and challenging research strategic planning process as the university plans a transition to Carnegie R1 status. She facilitates meetings with each college, talking to deans and faculty, gathering insights, and strengthening connections, collecting data, listening for priorities, and keeping the overall mission of the university in the forefront.

Dr. Jordan identifies a few key turning points in her journey. One was the moment she realized she could lead. After her colleague, Dr. Kim Littlefield, left the AVP role and encouraged her to think about leadership, Angela realized that to move up at her institution, she needed a Ph.D. Instructional design was tied directly to the faculty development work she was doing. Her degree not only advanced her career, it deepened her understanding of how people learn, collaborate, and innovate together. Dr. Jordan’s leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in mentorship, a value she discovered through her connection with NORDP. In her first few years as a member, she “coasted” along before getting involved in the Mentoring Committee at the 2018 conference, motivated by the idea of giving back. Formal mentoring was something Angela hadn’t experienced before joining NORDP, so by participating in the matched program, the committee, and mentor training, she has learned a lot about best practices in mentoring and is committed to facilitating mentee growth. She also remains engaged in CASSH and other collaborative initiatives that strengthen NORDP’s community of practice.

We congratulate Dr. Angela Jordan on her recent promotion to Assistant Vice President for Research Communications, Development, and Learning at the University of South Alabama, and on her well-deserved 2025 NORDP Mentoring Award.

Her journey reminds us that there’s no single path to success in RD, just the courage to say yes, the wisdom to learn as we go, and the generosity to lift others along the way.

Dr. Angela Jordan is happy to answer any questions you have for her, so please feel free to contact her at ajordan@southalabama.edu

To listen to her full interview, please click on this link (you must log in as a NORDP member to access): https://nordp.org/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=24459276; Chapter 52: Dr. Angela Jordan