I. King Jordan

I. King Jordan
8th President of Gallaudet University
In office
March 13, 1988 – December 31, 2006
Preceded byElisabeth Zinser
Succeeded byRobert Davila
Personal details
Born
Irving King Jordan

(1943-06-16) June 16, 1943 (age 81)
Glen Riddle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouse
Linda Kephart
(m. 1967)

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.[1][2]

He appears in the 2011 disability rights documentary Lives Worth Living.

  1. ^ Brueggemann, B. J. (1995). The Coming out of Deaf Culture and American Sign Language: An Exploration into Visual Rhetoric and Literacy. Rhetoric Review, 13, 409-420.
  2. ^ Fussman, Cal (1988). The Nonstop Hero Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. The Washington Post Magazine (December 18, 1988), pp. 20-26, 46-47.