Kelly Yordy

Director and Assistant Professor, Master of Arts in Leadership

I Serve in...

PhD in Leadership MA in Leadership MA in Higher Education

Education

• PhD, Higher Education Leadership & Administration, Indiana State University
• MA, Higher Education & Student Development, Taylor University
• BA, Communication Studies & Human Resources Management, Taylor University

Career Accomplishments

Dr. Yordy is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Director of MA in Higher Education programs. She collaborates with several colleagues to provide leadership for the current women faculty leadership development program at Taylor University. Dr. Yordy also co-created Leadership Exploration for Women, a former leadership development program for professional, entry-level faculty and staff serving at multiple regional CCCU institutions. She conducts research in several areas, including her current research project exploring women faculty’s leadership development pathways in higher education.

• Received a $5,000 grant awarded by Taylor University’s Women’s Giving Circle for research entitled: Women’s Leadership Development at Taylor University, 2022
• Received the Bakerman Student Research Award, Indiana State University, 2016

Featured Scholarship

Aupperle, J., Brown, J., & Yordy, K. A. (2021). Harmless joke or act of racism. In Hinton, K. G., Grim, V., Howard-Hamilton, M. F., Brown, O. G., & Davenport, M., Y (Eds.). Unleashing suppressed voices on college campuses. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Yordy, K. A. (2018). The effects of career related stress on faculty work-life balance: A quantitative analysis (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana State University).

Yordy, K. A. (2018). Nel Noddings’s ethic of care: Thoughts for student development educators. In Herrmann, T. W., Riedel, K. D., Hoffman, E. K., Martin, J. L., Yordy, K. A., & Pick, H. M. (Eds.), A calling to care: Nurturing college students toward wholeness. Abilene, TX: ACU Press.

Herrmann, T. W., Riedel, K. D., Hoffman, E. K., Martin, J. L., Yordy, K. A., & Pick, H. M. (editors). (2018). A calling to care: Nurturing college students toward wholeness. Abilene, TX: ACU Press.

About

Originally from Minnesota (Skol Vikings!), I have lived in Upland and worked at Taylor in several roles since 2007. My husband Brad also serves at Taylor, as the Executive Director of Alumni and Parent Relations. We live half a mile from campus, which allows us the opportunity to share our home and backyard with my students, our Community Connection floor, and many Taylor student groups, alumni, and friends.

We have three children: Max was born in 2009, Molly in 2011, and Mason in 2012. As a family, we enjoy camping, hiking, and traveling around the country to different national parks. We are blessed to have lots of extended family in town and a great community of friends as well. In addition to cheering on my kids at Eastbrook sporting events, I also enjoy serving in the Upland community: I'm a member of Our Town Upland, a local community development committee. I've coached many youth soccer teams over the years, and I'm also honored to serve on the leadership board at Pierce Church.