Lynda Marie Jordan

In 2017, Jordan published Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Building Bridges of Hope through the Holy Spirit, published by Redemption Press, .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}ISBN 9781683144199.

Jordan received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award during the 24th MLK Celebrations at MIT in 1998, and in 2000 she participated in the Commemorative Meeting for World Peace in Hong Kong.

In 1997, Jordan was the first woman to be invited to MLK visiting professor program at MIT, and served in that position until 2000. She completed both a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health simultaneously, becoming the first person in the history of Harvard University to do so. She became the associate minister at the Holy Temple Church in Roxbury, MA and the CEO and Founder of A Place to Heal Ministries in Cambridge, which she established in 2010.

In 1995, Nova and WGBH-TV produced a documentary series, Discovering Women, which aired through March and April and included a one-hour segment on Jordan. Titled "Jewels in a Test Tube," the segment followed Jordan's life story and scientific achievements. Jordan was honored by First Lady Hillary Clinton at the premiere of the documentary, who cited Jordan's "contributions to science and science education."

Jordan returned to North Carolina A&T in 1987 as an assistant professor of chemistry. She began improving and developing the biochemistry lab there; continued her work with PLA-2; presented her research alongside her students at various conferences in the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Australia; and received national and international recognition for her teaching and support for under-represented groups.

Before beginning her MIT program, Jordan interned at the Polaroid Corporation during the summer of 1981, beginning her Ph.D. in the fall. At the time, the Ph.D. program was composed mainly of men, and only 3% of the students were Black. Jordan co-chaired the Black Graduate Student Association while at MIT, and in 1985 she became only the third Black woman ever to receive a Ph.D. from MIT.

Jordan continued to Atlanta University (AU) where she conducted research at Morehouse School of Medicine and graduated with a Master of Science in Biochemistry in December of 1980. As part of the graduate program at AU, Jordan regularly took the Graduate Record Examination, performed exceptionally well, and was recruited by MIT to complete a Ph.D. in biological chemistry.

Jordan graduated from high school in 1974. Encouraged by Warren, an alumnus, Jordan entered North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University as a nursing major but switched to chemistry. She was the president of the Beta Kappa Chi honor society and a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. After attending the Harvard Health Careers summer program, Jordan became increasingly interested in biochemistry. She graduated from North Carolina A&T in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college.

Lynda Marie Jordan (born 20 September 1956) is an American biochemist, ordained minister, and CEO & founder of A Place to Heal Ministries, Inc. (APTHM). She was the third Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was a Ford Fellow at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, an associate professor of chemistry at North Carolina A&T State University, and the first woman to be invited to the MLK Visiting Professor program at MIT. Jordan was also the first person at Harvard University to complete a Master of Public Health and Master of Divinity simultaneously.

Jordan was born at Boston City Hospital, Roxbury, Boston in 1956 to Charles Thessel Jordan, a meat cutter, and Charlene Veasley Jordan, a homemaker. Jordan was the oldest of the couple's three daughters, and when her parents divorced, Jordan assisted her mother with finances, child care and other adult responsibilities in the household despite her young age. The family moved into the Bromley-Heath Housing Project, where, like the Jordans, 85% of the households depended on welfare to survive.