Dexter B Gordon

An outstanding, seasoned teacher, trainer, keynote speaker, consultant, author, and leader Dexter Gordon’s sustained record of leadership in education and community development is remarkable. He brings together his more than 30 years of experience as an educator and public intellectual to promote his vision of comprehensive community development grounded in equality and justice for all.

Dexter Gordon’s colleagues describe him as “a grounded, sharp and impressive teacher, scholar and leader” whose teaching and scholarship are marked by a care for peoples’ experiences of living and learning in the context of difficult social, political and ethical questions. Callista Brown, a professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma (WA) observes that, “Gordon approaches leadership as an art form, balancing imagination and structure, steadiness and energy, common sense and uncommon commitment. He is always working with other leaders – and he is always growing new leaders.”

Dexter Gordon holds the title of Distinguished Professor, teaches rhetoric, media, culture, and African American studies, and heads up the university’s African American Studies Program as well as its Race and Pedagogy Institute. The Institute exemplifies Professor Gordon’s critical and innovative educational commitments. This Institute examines the question of how should education address race? To achieve its goals the Race and Pedagogy Institute connects campus and community as mutual partners committed to programs and organizations working to eliminate inequities in education. 

Dexter Gordon has worked with a range of businesses, community organizations, educational institutions, including the Washington State Superior Court and the Washington Correctional Center for Women, Blacks in Government, Weyerhaeuser, University of Washington, Seattle and Tacoma, Lewis and Clark, Evergreen State College, Tacoma, Urban League

Dexter Gordon holds a BA in Theology, (Jamaica Theological Seminary) and MA in Communication Ethics, (Wheaton College), and a Ph. D in Rhetoric and Culture (Indiana University).