By: EMMA ILLIAN ’27
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT, 10 Oct 2025
As a student, graduate and professor, Interim Provost and Dean of the Faculty Dr. Jill (Brautigam) Jordan ‘99, has spent many years living and loving on Houghton University’s (HU) campus. Jordan graduated from HU with a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and psychology with a violin performance minor. After getting her undergraduate degree, Jordan attended Bryn Mawr College for her master’s and Ph.D. in mathematics.
In 2009, Jordan and her husband, Rev. Dr. Michael Jordan ‘99, moved back to Houghton, and Jordan began working as a full-time faculty member in the Mathematics department. In the past few years, she served as the Dean of Natural Sciences & Mathematics while continuing to teach math part-time. Now, starting this semester, Jordan is serving as the Interim Provost for HU.
Jordan described the Provost as the “Chief Academic Officer,” which means “that anything that is primarily an academic concern is in [her] realm.” Thus, Jordan is responsible for meeting with the faculty and people working in the Registrar’s Office and the Library. She also works on “the various academic projects that are part of Houghton’s strategic plan.”
As Interim Provost, Jordan has the opportunity to use many of her strengths. Dr. Rebekah Yates, who also began teaching in the Mathematics department in 2009, spoke to Jordan’s strengths. “[Jordan is] very good at listening to her colleagues, understanding their concerns, and helping people see things from different perspectives. As a mathematician, she’s also very good at communicating clearly and concisely and assisting others in clarifying their own points.”
Yates also described Jordan’s ability to problem-solve and “create surprising solutions that are also actually possible to vexing problems.” Michael Jordan said that Jordan “is a perfect blend of smart and wise—wise enough to know what’s really at stake in hard choices, but smart enough to hold all the different variables of a decision together.”
For Yates, Jordan’s ability to come up with creative solutions has already had a meaningful impact. When Yates and her husband were both consistently unavailable to pick up their son from preschool, Jordan offered to pick up Yates’s son while also picking up her own child. Jordan continued this routine for the entire year.
Yates said, “This is typical of Jill: her practical, creative solutions to problems often require something from her as well.” Still, Jordan is willing to put her time and effort into serving others.
Jordan not only has the skills to serve Houghton, but also the willingness. Both Yates and Michael Jordan spoke to Jordan’s dedication and commitment to the Houghton community.
Jordan said, “One of the things I love about living and working here is that we are surrounded by a community that cares about us…we have so many life-giving relationships with such a variety of people.”
Now, as Michael Jordan said, Jordan has the opportunity to use her gifts to lead and serve this community.
As Jordan steps into her new role as Interim Provost, the Houghton community can love and serve her as well. Since Jordan does not get to see students as much, she would love to see visitors in her new office in the Luckey Memorial Building.★
