Information Technology Services (ITS)
IT@UofT People — Jordan Holmes
Published on: June 19, 2025
The backbone of any successful team is its hard-working people. The University of Toronto’s information technology professionals are no exception. IT@UofT is made up of a diverse range of people with an even greater diversity in their interests and talents.
In this segment, entitled “IT@UofT People,” we will get to know our IT@UofT community across all three campuses and find out more about their hidden or not-so-hidden talents and/or pursuits outside of work.
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Department: Academic, Research & Collaborative (ARC) technologies and Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI)
Title: Senior Manager, Teaching, Learning & Technology
How long have you worked at U of T?
I’m still relatively new to U of T — I started in January 2024, so about a year and a half now.
What is your secret or not-so-secret talent or hobby outside of work?
I’m fairly light on talents, so I will focus on a hobby! I love gaming — board games, card games and video games — I love them all. My favourite thing about being a parent of young children is teaching them some of the games that I love, learning about the games that they love and discovering new games we can play together. My eldest is a Monopoly shark. My youngest is really good at CATAN Junior — and I sometimes let my kids win at Mario Kart.
How and why did you get involved in this hobby?
Gaming has always been a way for me to connect with friends and family. I remember being very young and playing Rummoli at my aunt’s dinner table or Trivial Pursuit and Charades with my parents and close family friends. I played many hours of Euchre with the other misfits through high school. It has always been a way to connect.
Do you have any outstanding memories from this hobby?
When the pandemic hit, I heard about a game called Through the Ages. It’s an adaptation for mobile devices of a board game that you can play asynchronously with up to four players. It is excellent! In a very big way, it was the glue that kept my friend group together during the pandemic, and we still play it to this day. I count that as an accomplishment!
Who/what are your inspirations?
Too many to list. This is cheesy, but my wife Krista is genuinely the most capable, authentic and caring person I have ever met, and she inspires me to be better. My kids inspire me to slow my brain down and appreciate the moment. My colleagues inspire me to show up and take pride in my work.
Looking outward, and considering the moment we find ourselves in, I find great inspiration in Ursula Franklin. She was a Canadian metallurgist and humanist, and faculty at U of T for over 40 years. If you haven’t read The Real World of Technology, I highly recommend it. She challenges us as a society to adopt a growth mentality vs. only maximizing efficiency and productivity, and to keep human values at the centre of progress. Given current discourses around AI, I think we should listen to her.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
One more thing about gaming — one of the biggest life lessons I ever learned was from playing poker: you can make the optimal decision and still lose. You can make the wrong choice and still win. It’s important to focus on making better decisions, not letting outcomes shape our analysis of a situation. I still struggle with this sometimes, but it has served me well!