In the Practice of Teaching is a series featuring Duke faculty whose teaching embodies our tagline: “Bringing purpose, adventure, and joy to the practice of teaching.” In each feature, faculty reflect on what makes teaching meaningful, the experiments that have shaped their practice, the moments that bring them joy, and the approaches they return to again and again. Through their stories, the series celebrates the creativity, care, and continual growth at the heart of great teaching.
As Executive in Residence in Pratt’s Engineering Graduate and Professional Programs, Allegra Jordan draws on decades of experience developing leaders and teams across industries and around the world to teach management and leadership skills in engineering. This fall, she is putting that expertise into practice through pop-up Student Teams First Aid Clinics, a creative experiment designed to help students diagnose and address the dysfunctions that can make group projects so stressful. Her approach reflects a deep commitment to meaningful, practical learning, and to the belief that with practice and courage, students can build healthier teams and get their lives back.
In the following interview, Jordan reflects on the purpose, experimentation, joy, and enduring practices that shape her approach to teaching.
What first drew you to teaching, and what continues to make it meaningful to you?
For the first part of my life, I was an innovator, author and executive coach. During those years, I helped USA TODAY scale its internet site from 10,000 visitors per month to 11+ million per month; participated in a successful IPO; and handled global crisis communications for the Enron board investigation, among other projects.
In 2020, my life changed. My spouse, Pratt adjunct professor Ted Ryan, was diagnosed with late-stage blood cancer. He asked me to be a guest lecturer in his leadership class so I could take over if he could not finish his last few classes. Thankfully, the Duke Blood Cancer clinic saved Ted’s life with CAR-T cell therapy, and he returned to teaching cancer-free.
Students shared they liked how I engaged with them. I liked the challenge of stepping into the ring and challenging them to be their best selves. When a post came open, I applied and received an offer.
In 2024, a business mentor offered me roughly $50 million in pre-idea money to come back to Alabama and start another company. I thought about it for a few days then turned it down. I realized I love this job. I get to meet and work with some of the world’s most curious, courageous students, and I get to help them become their best selves in a tough world.
There’s a quote from poet Galway Kinnell that sums up what teaching leadership feels like to me:
The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing
– Galway Kinnell, St. Francis and the Sow
Can you tell us about a teaching experiment that worked—or one that taught you something when it didn’t?
Success: Returning their first assignment with professional-grade, personalized feedback within one week of submission.
I had a hunch that I could gain students’ respect for leadership studies by giving their first written assignment professional-grade feedback within one week of submission. I treat their first short, hand-written assignment like it’s a final galley proof for a New York Times best-seller and I’m the final copy editor before it goes to press. The grading takes several long days.
Of all the things I do in a semester, students report that first week’s feedback grabs their attention. They are not sending ideas into a void. Some decide to give leadership lessons a second chance.
Failure: Do not ask engineers to free-style dance to Taylor Swift. I can’t stress this enough.
Many engineers are strong dancers. Studies also provide data that song and dance often help human groups bond voluntarily and quickly. I failed the first time I experimented with dance in class. I learned to ask one of the skilled students to lead the movement session with their own music. Subsequent experiments have been much more successful.
What brings you joy in the classroom?
I get the most joy from seeing students unburden from their past failures with other humans. Relationship and leadership skills are learned, and we can all learn better skills if we are open to trying.
What is a teaching practice you rely on again and again?
Positive presence. Each time before I go to class I think, “Let me keep my ego out of this class. Let me bring a positive presence. Let me be genuinely curious about how they are learning the material so I can help them be their best selves. Let me be respectful to everyone I meet, even the grumps.”
Inspired by Allegra Jordan’s approach to teaching? Connect with us to explore opportunities, resources, and conversations that support your own teaching practice. You can also nominate yourself or another Duke instructor whose teaching embodies our tagline: Bringing purpose, adventure, and joy to the practice of teaching.