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Brigadier General
Rita A. Jordan
Permanent Professor 1998–2008
B.A., Case Western Reserve University
M.A., Louisiana Tech University
Ph.D., University of Colorado
Rita Jordan (née Brokans), the Academy’s 65th Permanent Professor, was born in Stirling West, South Australia, in 1952. She graduated in 1974 from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, where she majored in English and received her commission through the AFROTC program. She attended the Basic Munitions Maintenance Course, Lowry AFB, CO, in 1974. Upon graduation, she was assigned to the 449th Munitions Maintenance Squadron, Kincheloe AFB, MI, and served as Branch Chief for the Munitions and Short-Range Attack Missile Maintenance and Storage branches from 1975 to 1977. Transferring to Andersen AFB, Guam, in 1977, she served as Munitions Services Branch Chief and Munitions Maintenance Supervisor in the 43rd Munitions Maintenance Squadron. In 1978 she attended Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL. In 1980 she became Chief, Munitions Services Division, HQ 8th Air Force, Barksdale AFB, LA. While at Barksdale, she earned a Master of Arts degree in Human Relations from Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, in 1981. Next, she served from 1982 to 1984 as Maintenance Supervisor, 380th Field Maintenance Squadron and 380th Avionics Maintenance Squadron, Plattsburgh AFB, NY. In 1984 she joined the USAF Academy Department of Management as an Assistant Professor with additional duty as Personnel Officer. From 1987 to 1990 she was a student in the doctoral program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Returning to the Management Department, Rita completed her dissertation while teaching and was awarded a PhD in Business Administration from CU in 1993. In 1994 Rita became the Deputy Department Head as an Associate Professor, and in 1998 she was appointed Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Management. She led the effort that gained the initial accreditation for the Management major from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the first service academy to gain this accreditation. She also chaired the Second Class Academic Review Committee, a USAFA Admissions Panel, and the NCAA Track and Field and Cross-Country Intercollegiate Eligibility Committee. In 2002 Rita served as the Associate Dean and Chair, Academic Review Board, of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, during a two-year sabbatical. Returning to Head the Department of Management in 2004, she also served as a member of the Board of Directors of AACSB International and from 2007 to 2008, as an additional duty, Chair of the faculty’s Social Sciences Division. Rita was promoted to brigadier general and retired from the USAF in 2008.
From 2009 to 2011 Rita returned to the Management Department to teach Organization Behavior and Human Resources Management as well as help with the preparation for the Academy’s AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation Peer Review Team visit. During this time, she also served AACSB as a volunteer Peer Review Team member for an initial and a maintenance visit; as Adjunct Faculty, Bachelor of Innovation Program, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of the Rockies, Denver. Rita also has taught in the School of Management, College of Professional Studies, Regis University in Denver. She continues teaching as Adjunct Faculty in the Bachelor of Innovation Program, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.