John Jordan

Executive Director, 1990–1999

John Jordan was executive director of the University YMCA from January 1990 to June 1999. A farm boy from near Sycamore, Illinois, a Rhodes Scholar and a United Methodist minister, he came to the Y after more than 25 years in campus ministry, church mission work and religious publishing. In his years the Board of Governors took its stand against Chief Illiniwek, the 120th Anniversary Major Funds Campaign retired the Y's long-running deficit, and Scott Peters wrote the Y's history for its 125th anniversary with his close support. He stayed close to the Y as a volunteer after he retired, and it gave him its Distinguished Service Award in 2024.