Jessica L. Ford, Ph.D.

A candid and lively Kinesiology assistant professor who grew up fascinated by the mental side of sport and music performance.

Candid | Divergent | Lively: Growing up, Jessica Ford was fascinated by the mental side of sport and music performance. After earning a bachelor’s in Psychology and a master’s in Exercise and Sport Sciences with a concentration in sport psychology, Ford obtained a doctorate in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence, in addition to a doctoral cognate in Counseling. Ford has supervised training in performance consulting, facilitating mental skills to optimize performance in athletes, musicians, exercisers, and others. Ford teaches Introduction to Kinesiology, Capstone in Kinesiology, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, and Motor Development: A Lifespan Perspective.
How has McDaniel paved the way with its state-of-the-art Kinesiology program?: McDaniel College is the only independent college or university in Maryland that has a Kinesiology major. What I think is most notable about the Kinesiology program itself is that there are tons of opportunities for students to get real world experience that mirrors the roles and responsibilities that they will have within their respective careers post-graduation. In fact, almost every Kinesiology student graduates with at least one internship, practicum, or independent study. Students at McDaniel get a lot of individualized attention and guidance from faculty. Due to the rigor of the coursework and the various opportunities for hands-on learning, the Kinesiology Department also has an outstanding track record of students getting accepted into graduate programs with focuses in athletic training, physical therapy, physical education, and more.
When students take courses in Kinesiology, what do you hope they take away from the experience?: I hope that students see how interdisciplinary the field is. A lot of health care professions are collaborative and require an understanding of multiple domains (e.g., physiology, psychology, nutrition, anatomy, sociology, biomechanics) to be successful. This is why students at McDaniel are required to take courses representing various facets of Kinesiology to complete the major. More broadly, I also hope that students learn to think critically about the study of physical activity from various perspectives.
What brought you to teaching Kinesiology?: Teaching in the classroom helps bridge the gap between the scientists conducting rigorous studies in the lab and practitioners applying that knowledge directly in the field, so I can translate knowledge from both worlds – the researcher or scientist world, and the applied consultant or practitioner world. I also come from a family of teachers, and education was instilled as a value in my life from a young age. I always had a feeling that I would end up teaching!

Directory Profile for Jessica Ford

Music

As a musician, she has performed three times at Summerfest in Milwaukee, the largest music festival in the United States.

Food

Her favorite food is thin crust pizza from her home state of New Jersey.

Activities

She has completed multiple marathons and half marathons.

Jessica L. Ford, Ph.D.

About Prof. Ford

Outside of the Classroom