One way or another, chances are current and former OUWB students alike soon will know Jordan Nash, the school’s new development associate.

Nash started in mid-July and has big plans to foster relationships between OUWB and its alumni, and also help build the school’s scholarship pipeline.

He says he “caught the bug for student support” while working at University of Michigan-Flint — a “bug” that continued in his most recent position as an admissions counselor for Norwich University, and also has him looking ahead to what he can do at OUWB.

Nash

“I want to create a lot more opportunities for OUWB alumni to get involved in ways that are most meaningful for them,” he says. “I’m all about bringing alumni back to share their successes and using that to not only champion them, but also the school, and bringing others into the fold.”

Nash, from Flushing, Michigan, earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from University of Michigan-Flint. He is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration.

As an undergrad, Nash had an internship in UM-Flint’s Career Center.

“I saw myself in a lot of the students who would come in,” he says.

“I loved seeing them coming into my office, frantic, and then leaving with the confidence.”

Also at UM-Flint, Nash served as a communications associate. He worked with the Career Center and Alumni Relations Team to cultivate relationships with students, parents, alumni, corporate partners, and donors. That included planning events, working with sponsors, creating marketing materials, tracking the effectiveness of various initiatives, and more.

For the past two years, at Norwich University — a private military academy in Northfield, Vermont — Nash was involved heavily in interacting with potential, current, and former students. His work there included nurturing relationships with potential applicants, helping current students find the support they needed, and working with alumni on information sessions and other recruitment efforts.

The common thread that runs through Nash’s career is a high level of comfort in talking with people, which he says relates to his background in communications.

“I like finding out what makes people tick…determining what it is they’re most interested in,” he says.

When not at work, Nash’s own interests are in playing board games like Catan with a close group of friends he’s had since elementary school. He also says he’s “a huge music buff” and collects vinyl records of artists like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and others from the 1960s and 70s.

With regards to his work, Nash says he feels most accomplished by the kinds of things that don’t necessarily show up on a spreadsheet.

“It’s always great when you can sit back and be happy about getting everything done on your list for the day,” he says. “But in reality, that often doesn’t work out…so for me, success at the end of the day is really about the quality of conversations I had and how many people I was able to help.”

At OUWB, 60 percent of Nash’s time is being spent working with alumni and parents of students. The rest of his time is dedicated to building scholarship pipelines.

He works closely with Claus Weimann, director of Philanthropy.

In building up the connection between OUWB alumni and parents, Weimann says Nash will be serving in a capacity that’s long overdue at OUWB.

“(Nash) has a real, great talent for communication, which I appreciate,” says Weimann. “Also, he’s very sincere and professional in what he does…he gets people involved in communications and has a real ability to listen to people.”

Nash says he wants to hear from anyone interested in getting involved in the OUWB community. His email is [email protected].

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, marketing writer, OUWB, at [email protected]. 

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

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