Jordan named next AOTA Executive Director
March 15, 2024

Katie Jordan, associate chair of occupational therapy clinical services, has been selected as the next executive director of the American Occupational Therapy Association, effective August 7, 2024, according to an announcement released by AOTA. In this role, Jordan will provide strategic leadership of the national professional association in partnership with the AOTA Board of Directors on behalf of more than 230,000 occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants and students nationwide.

Throughout her 20 years as a practitioner, educator, administrator, compliance liaison and executive leader, including 17 years as a USC Chan faculty member, Jordan has made outstanding contributions to the promotion and expansion of the division’s clinical programs and practice sites. She has developed cutting-edge curricula on topics including health care policy, coding, documentation and compliance. She has also become one of the profession’s premier experts on reimbursement-related regulation and policy, and has delivered more than 90 invited, keynote and refereed presentations within and outside the field of occupational therapy.

Jordan entered the profession after earning her MA and OTD degrees in occupational therapy from USC in 2003 and 2004, respectively. She was named the inaugural director of the USC Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice in 2004.

She left USC to manage a multidisciplinary team at a large acute care hospital in Texas, until she was recruited back to USC in 2009.

Given her previous leadership experiences in both outpatient and acute care settings, Jordan was appointed to the dual roles of Associate Chair of Occupational Therapy Clinical Services and Director of Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy Services at Keck Medical Center. Thanks to her leadership, occupational therapy clinical services sustained tremendous growth in patient volume, clinical space, external contracts and overall program visibility throughout USC.

In her administrative roles, she strengthened the division’s clinical and doctoral residency programs by serving as a mentor to OTD residents and overseeing the designation of an approved AOTA fellowship program in physical rehabilitation. She also led the expansion of occupational therapy service provision from three to 12 sites across the Los Angeles area, including at Keck Medicine of USC hospitals and affiliated clinics, the Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice, and at primary care, pediatric and community-based settings.

In 2016, she was promoted to professor of clinical occupational therapy in recognition of her success in integrating, supporting and expanding clinical occupational therapy services across the USC academic medical enterprise, and her invaluable contributions to numerous division, school and university-level workgroups, committees and strategic initiatives. In 2021, Jordan was appointed as the inaugural Chief Administrative Officer for University Clinical Services under the USC Provost’s Office of Culture, Ethics and Compliance.

“I wish Dr. Jordan all the best on her next journey,” said Associate Dean and Chair Grace Baranek. “I know she will continue to make great contributions to the profession of occupational therapy. This is an exciting time of growth and advancement within USC Chan, and while we will continue to celebrate Dr. Jordan’s many accomplishments in the months ahead, we will also begin the process of identifying a dynamic and strategic leader to continue the important work that she has championed for so many years.”

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