Rate My Professor Jenna Jordan

Jenna Jordan is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, serving also as Faculty Athletics Representative since July 2022. She joined Georgia Tech as Assistant Professor in August 2012, advancing to Associate Professor in August 2018. Previously, she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, from August 2010 to August 2012. Jordan holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago (2011), M.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago (2004), M.A. in Political Science from Stanford University (2001), and B.A. in International Relations from Mills College (1999).

Her research focuses on counterterrorism policy, cybersecurity, international security, organizational theory, statecraft, terrorism and political violence, and wargaming. Notable publications include her book Leadership Decapitation: Strategic Targeting of Terrorist Organizations (Stanford University Press, 2019), winner of the 2020 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title; "The Non-Trivial Accomplishments of Counterterrorists" in Security Studies (2024); "Attacking the Leader, Missing the Mark: Why Terrorist Groups Survive Decapitation Strikes" in International Security (2014); "When Heads Roll: Assessing the Effectiveness of Leadership Decapitation" in Security Studies (2009); and "Patchwork of Confusion: The Cyber Security Coordination Problem" in Journal of Cyber Security (2018). She has received the Morris Abrams Award in International Relations (2007-2008), World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship from the Smith Richardson Foundation (2008), Intelligence Studies Section Student Paper Award (2012), Ivan Allen College Teacher of the Year (2017), and CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2017). Jordan serves on the editorial board of Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, directs the Online MS in International Security (since 2023), and has delivered public lectures including a TEDx talk on leadership targeting (2015). Her research has been supported by grants from the Smith Richardson Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and others, with opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy.