Jordanne Davenport on the day she received her PhD from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.
Jordanne Davenport of Orange received a PhD from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in December.
Davenport fell in love with computers at the age of 4 after pleading to attend an extra-curricular Computer Tots class with her fellow preschoolers at the Iris Family Center for Early Childhood Education in South Orange. She would eventually go to Heywood Avenue School where she learned more about technology from the late teacher, Anthony Moffitt.
When Davenport attended Orange Middle School, now known as Orange Preparatory Academy of Inquiry and Innovation, she took a class with Max Nixon. Mr. Nixon not only taught about technology but took his classes on field trips to major corporations such as Movado and Microsoft.
During her years at Orange High School, Davenport joined the robotics team which led to a meeting with Sen. Cory Booker at a competition. Eventually she would join Real World Connections (RWC) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The program’s director, Osama Eljabiri, would not only expose Davenport to many areas of STEM, but teach her the value of being able to present projects and ideas to major corporations. This skill would benefit her throughout her education.
Davenport went to Bloomfield College and decided to major in computer science. While at Bloomfield College, her advisor, Steve Kreutzer, introduced Davenport to Beverly Fields, which led her to become a McNair Scholar. The scholarship is named after NASA Astronaut Ronald McNair, who died on the space shuttle Challenger. The program encourages STEM students to seek graduate school opportunities.
After graduating from Bloomfield College, Davenport went to Virginia State University where she earned a masters degree in computer science while in a fully paid one-year scholarship program.
Davenport was offered a fellowship to earn a PhD at NCA&T and under the guidance of Kristen Rhinehardt, Davenport earned a PhD in computational data science and engineering. She said she is grateful for the many people who inspired her journey, especially her grandparents, William and Yvonne Greene of Orange, who told her “never forget that your foundation for success began with God and Essex County.”
Davenport said she plans to “pursue a career that involves innovative coding and a future in academia.” She also offered words of encouragement to future students; “pursue every opportunity to be exposed to people and programs in fields that you are interested in. If you can see others doing it, believe that you can do it too.”
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