Jordan Brings Creative Energy to Support Arts and Humanities
Michael Jordan joins advancement staff to engage arts and humanities alumni.
Michael Jordan joined the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) advancement team in 2025 as the major gifts officer for the Division of Arts and Humanities.
In this role, he works with alumni and friends of the college to deepen their engagement and support programs that grow the arts and sciences advantage. His focus is primarily on the departments within the Division of Arts and Humanities: classics, English, history, philosophy, religious studies, theater, world languages and culture, and the School of Art.
“I meet with alumni here in Knoxville and in other cities around the country—I’m earning lots of frequent flier miles!” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet alumni, from the 1950s to today, and learn about what made their experiences on Rocky Top a transformative chapter in their individual stories.”
Jordan brings years of experience in public relations for several Georgia history museums and is an author, filmmaker, and former television news anchor. He most recently served for three years on the advancement team in the UT College of Communication and Information, where he was the associate director of development for UT’s public radio station WUOT 91.9 FM, before joining CAS.
“In my previous roles at Blount Mansion National Historic Landmark and at WUOT 91.9FM, I worked with members and donors who cared about and supported many overlapping arts and culture endeavors in our community,” said Jordan. “I find that supporters of the arts and humanities at UT have a wide variety of similar interests. People who have a liberal arts education care deeply about creating a more culturally rich and thoughtful world.”
In addition to his work in advancement, Jordan has written several books about local East Tennessee history and the history of his former home in Savannah, Georgia. He worked briefly in TV news in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Macon, Georgia, in the mid-1990s before enjoying a long stint as a news anchor for a station covering Savannah and Hilton Head, South Carolina.
“I also specialized in covering local military troops deployed overseas,” he said. “This allowed me to travel to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and to go to sea aboard US Navy aircraft carriers, submarines, and surface warships. That in turn got me hooked on international travel, and as of 2025, I have visited 69 countries around the globe.”
As a filmmaker, Jordan has produced more than 30 historical documentaries, including original films, museum orientation films, and videos about archaeological digs.
“My work has been featured nationwide on public television stations, and one of my films has been viewed more than four million times on YouTube,” he said.
He now enjoys applying his creative energy to make important connections in support of arts and humanities departments and programs.
“I love meeting our academic department heads and learning about all of the fascinating things the college’s faculty are doing with their research and publication, as well as in the classroom,” said Jordan. “Another great thing about working in advancement is that I am regularly exposed to developments taking place campus-wide. It’s an exciting time to be here!”
By Randall Brown