David K. Jordan is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), having joined as part of the founding faculty in 1969 shortly after earning his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago. His academic interests encompass cultural and psychological anthropology, sociolinguistics, and the cross-cultural study of religion. Regionally, his work focuses primarily on Chinese society, especially in Taiwan—covering language, social structure, folk religion, and sectarianism—with secondary attention to pre-Columbian Mexico. Jordan has also contributed significantly to studies of Esperanto, interlinguistics, and associated social movements. During his tenure, he chaired the Chinese Studies Program in the 1970s and the Department of Anthropology in the 1980s. From 1994 to 2004, he served as Provost of Earl Warren College, one of UCSD's six undergraduate colleges, earning recognition from the Chancellor as "a campus personality."

Jordan's scholarly output includes several key books: Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors: The Folk Religion of a Taiwanese Village (University of California Press, 1972); co-authored with Daniel L. Overmyer, The Flying Phoenix: Aspects of Sectarianism in Taiwan (Princeton University Press, 1985); edited with Andrew D. Morris and Marc L. Moskowitz, Minor Arts of Daily Life: Popular Culture in Taiwan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2004); and co-authored with Marc J. Swartz, Anthropology: Perspective on Humanity (John Wiley & Sons, 1976), later revised as Culture: The Anthropological Perspective (1980). He edited Personality and the Cultural Construction of Society: Papers in Honor of Melford E. Spiro (University of Alabama Press, 1990). Post-retirement in 2004, Jordan continued teaching a full load pro bono until 2019—marking 50 years of service—and developed one of UCSD's earliest and largest collections of original, hand-programmed web-based educational materials on China, Taiwan, and related topics, freely accessible for students and discussions. Since 1988, he has annually taught the first quarter of Eleanor Roosevelt College's interdisciplinary "Making of the Modern World" core sequence, as well as courses on Taiwan, China, pre-Columbian Mexico, and the ethnography of Christianity. In 2021, he resumed teaching two freshman seminars per year. For his extensive post-retirement contributions, he was awarded the 2024 Dickson Emeriti Professorship.

Professional Email: dkjordan@ucsd.edu