Emeritus Professor Jacob U. Gordon
Jacob U. Gordon, Ph.D. African History; LL.D (Honorary); M.A. African History; B.A. (Honors) History. Dr. Gordon serves as The Kwame Nkrumah Chair in the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana for 2012-2013. He is Professor Emeritus, The University of Kansas, USA. Professor Gordon received his primary and secondary school education in Nigeria before his selection as a Haile Selassie Scholar to study at the University of Addis Abba, 1959. He left Ethiopia for the United States in 1960 and completed his undergraduate education at Bethune-Cookman University, received the Master's degree at Howard University, and earned his Ph.D from Michigan State University. He completed post-doctoral work in Gerontology at the University of Southern California, and was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from the Union Theological Seminary.
Over more than 40 years in higher education Professor Gordon has devoted his career to African Studies and the Black Experience in the Diaspora specializing in the U.S., Brazil/South America, and the Caribbean. He has authored or edited 20 books, more than 30 refereed journal articles, 25 research papers, 12 book chapters, 10 monographs, 25 research reports, numerous abstracts, training manuals, and over 75 presentations. Professor Gordon received about $4.5 million in research and community service grants during his tenure at the University of Kansas.
During his teaching career Professor Gordon taught more than 8,000 college students, and served on or chaired 32 doctoral dissertation and master's thesis committees. He continues to mentor many former students who are now leaders in their professional careers.
Professor Gordon's administrative experiences include Chairman of the Department of History and Political Science, Albany State University in Georgia, 1967-1970; Founder and Chairman of the Department of African and African-American Studies at the University of Kansas, 1970-1980; Executive Director of the Center for Leadership, University of Kansas, 1980-2004; and currently as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Health Coalition, Inc., a non-profit organization promoting health worldwide. Professor Gordon is the recipient of many awards and honors, including Who's Who Among Black Americans; University of Kansas Faculty Outstanding Public Service Award; Contemporary Authors Award; Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society Award in History; Directory of American Scholars; Fulbright Senior Specialist; and the establishment of the Jacob U. Gordon Collection in the University of Kansas Research Library.