Letters from Leaders: Tuajuanda Jordan - Leadership Southern Maryland

Letters From Leaders

An LSM Initiative to Inspire and Empower

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou

Think of the leaders in your life. They left indelible imprints on you, on the way you see the world, on what you choose to engage with as you go forward.

In Letters from Leaders, we will hear from a cross-section of Southern Maryland leaders intimately familiar with our region and our people. We will be touched by stories from their lives and facets of their experiences they carry with them along their journey. As we explore topics through their eyes and through their hearts, feel the impact of their words, their compassion, and their courage. Perhaps they, too, will leave their imprint on you.

– Matt Scassero, LMd ’07, LSM Leadership Council

Leading from Where You Are: Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan

“Leadership is not for everyone. It is a calling.”

– Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, President, St. Mary’s College of Maryland

In this moving reflection, Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, president of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, invites us to reconsider leadership not as a position of power, but as a calling grounded in authenticity, resilience, and integrity. Drawing on her personal journey—from first-generation college student to trailblazing scientist and academic leader—Dr. Jordan reminds us that enduring leadership begins with staying true to ourselves and lifting others along the way. Her story is a bold and beautiful reminder that when we lead from where we are, we illuminate a path for others to follow.

Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan

Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan is President of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the National Public Honors College. She is a nationally recognized scientist and academic leader, known for advancing inclusive excellence and innovation in higher education. A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Jordan has championed student success and institutional transformation throughout her career. She developed the influential Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance–Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program and is widely respected for her leadership, scholarship, and service. Her journey is a powerful example of authenticity, purpose, and impact in action.

Leading from where you are? What does that mean? There are people who want to be leaders because of the perceived fame, fortune, and power associated with a position. I am not of that mindset.

Leadership is not for everyone. It is a calling. Yes, a leader can be trained. If that were not the case, most of the leadership training programs would cease to exist. Nonetheless, the act of true, responsible, and enduring leadership, well, that is something different.

I suppose I should at this point recount some of my résumé. When I do that, it will be evident that it contains a series of firsts in the context of women and/or African Americans. Given my age, that should surprise no one. I am the first: in my family to attend college; African American woman to graduate with a PhD in Biochemistry from Purdue University; African American director of science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; African American dean of the college at Lewis & Clark College; and African American president of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. To be a leader in these disparate environments takes something more than a notion because each environment presents different challenges and opportunities. Being the leader in these environments takes grit, resilience, persistence, a supportive family, a fantastic network of friends/advisors/mentors and all of the other descriptors usually associated with leaders. If nothing else, a leader is adaptable. As a leader, taking advantage of opportunities that are presented to you takes vision, creativity, the ability to bring people together around a common good, a collaborative nature, and confidence.

What, then, does it take to lead during challenging times? This is an important consideration because challenges will surely arise. I have been able to lead through challenges because I have always been led to places and/ or involved in initiatives that I not only believe in but am fully committed to their mission and goals. Leadership during challenging times requires one to lead from where you are because it is your true nature, that which is within you, that will come to light in the midst of darkness and during the challenging times. During these times, those that you are leading must believe that you will be with them to weather the storm. Consequently, leadership requires you to be consistent and steady in your approach to all things.

My successes over the decades are due in no small part to who I am as an individual. Being a first-generation college student, spending my formative years in the segregated south, coming from a family of limited material means but an abundance of integrity, humility, dignity, and respect, and being a fervent observer of not just what is said and done by those in power but also keenly aware of how what is said impacts the lives and livelihoods of others have all shaped who I am as a person and how I lead. Because of all of this, I have no choice but to lead from where I am as a person and try to be inclusive in the work that I am called to do. Many of society’s ills are due to 1) exclusionary practices perpetrated by those who feel they must be in power and 2) coercion to step in line and “follow the leader”. I lead not to be in power but rather to empower those I have been called to lead to live lives of purpose in a manner they believe to be best. I have no doubt that this type of approach has the great potential to produce a more just and equitable society for all.

“Leading from where you are” means to stay true to yourself. At the end of the day, you’ll be led to where you are meant to be. Success will surely follow.

Dr. Tuajanda Jordan
President. St. Mary’s College of Maryland

About Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan

Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan has served as St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s (SMCM) seventh president since July 2014. During her tenure, the Board of Trustees approved a trilogy of interconnected strategic plans. The current plan, “The Rising Tide,” builds upon the goals achieved from previous plans to establish and solidify SMCM’s position as The National Public Honors College and the college of choice for students, faculty, staff and the community.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland has been widely recognized for its successes. Ranked among the nation’s best value colleges by The Princeton Review (2024) and among the best liberal arts colleges in America by Niche (2024), SMCM continues to build upon its solid reputation for academic excellence under Dr. Jordan’s watch. Under her leadership, the College continues to analyze and assess its programming to ensure that students are provided opportunities to beengaged, productive global citizens and leaders.

Since joining the College, President Jordan has been widely recognized for her contributions to higher education and the larger community. Since 2023 she has served as the president of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC). She created and hosted the first COPLAC Summer Summit in June 2024. In 2023, she was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by the Daily Record. In 2018, she was named a fellow in science education of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2017, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Higher Education by the national magazine, Diverse Issues in Higher Education.

In addition to serving on numerous national panels and boards, she was recognized as a Black Leader in Education by the AFRO (2017), a Woman on the Move by the Associated Black Charities, Baltimore, Maryland (2017), was named one of Fisk University’s Talented Tenth (2016), Purdue University’s Distinguished Women Scholars (2015-16), and as an Influential Marylander by the Daily Record (2015). She received an Education Excellence Award (2018) from the Southern Maryland Minority Chamber of Commerce, the Torchbearer Award (2014) from the National Coalition of Black Women, Baltimore Metropolitan Chapter, the CEO’s Excellence Award, Prince George’s County Public Schools Foundation (2018) and was inducted (2015) into the Zeta Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society.

Prior to SMCM, Dr. Jordan served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as a professor of chemistry at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon. While there, she helped recruit an exceptional and diverse faculty, launched a center for entrepreneurship, and developed a campus-wide system to increase student persistence and graduation rates. While an associate dean and tenured faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, she helped establish the center for undergraduate research and creativity.

Dr. Jordan gained national prominence in the realm of science education with the creation of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Alliance (SEA) program and the launch of its first initiative, the SEA Phage program, which engaged novice undergraduates in research in genomics and bioinformatics. This program has been implemented at more than 50 diverse institutions across the nation, impacted thousands of students and faculty, and resulted in numerous scientific and pedagogical publications.

President Jordan holds a B.S. in chemistry from Fisk University and a PhD in biochemistry from Purdue University.

About Matt Scassero, LMd ‘07

Matt Scassero is the Director for Operations and Outreach for the University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering MATRIX Lab at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland (USMSM). He promotes the Clark School’s role in the areas of integrated education and research (specifically focusing on autonomous technologies), outreach, and economic/community development. He completed a three-decade career flying off carriers for the Navy, and has both worked and volunteered in the social non-profit sector.

Scassero graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Baltimore, is a Leadership Maryland 2007 graduate and member of the LSM Leadership Council.

About Letters From Leaders

“Letters from Leaders,” a program of The Leadership Table with Matt Scassero, is a monthly series featuring real stories, insights, and reflections from leaders across Southern Maryland. The current theme, “Leading from Where You Are,” explores the many ways leadership happens in everyday moments.

Leadership is a journey, and we invite you to be part of it! Follow along in our newsletter and on social media, and be part of the conversation.

In September we’ll bring these lessons to life with a special live event: The Leadership Table with Matt Scassero – featuring “Letters from Leaders.” Join us for a dynamic, in-depth conversation where Scassero will sit down with all six contributing leaders in a live, interactive discussion.

Check back each month for a new letter, and stay tuned for details on our Leadership Table live event!