Photos by Ralph Freso/GCU News
Grand Canyon University senior Jordan Ward, who is on course to graduate in 2026 with a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, is more than just a cyber major. He's also an intern with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Phoenix.
“Six interviews, two drug tests and a polygraph examination. They spend time, money and resources recruiting you (as an intern). I first applied my freshman year, and it’s taken this long to go through the background process,” said the Atlanta native, hired as an FBI intern this year. “I found out they interviewed my neighbors and everything.”
Ward said that the FBI treats interns like real employees.
“They are not just saying, ‘Oh, we’ll give this top secret clearance to this kid who’s interning,’” he said of the internships, which can be a direct pipeline to full-time employment after college.
Landing the internship with the bureau, Ward had to fill out a 186-page background form. After two years, he was onboard.
Ward began working for the law enforcement agency in Atlanta but transferred to the Phoenix headquarters this year, where he is now assigned to an intelligence squad and is an intelligence analyst for violent crimes.
He was raised by his great uncle and great aunt, who he said greatly influenced his outlook on life.
“My dad is deceased, and my mom, I haven't seen her in my life, so I don't know about her. But I've been blessed since two weeks old to be with my great auntie and great uncle.”
He refers to his aunt as his mother. She raised him in a Southern Baptist church, which influenced his musical life.
“The reason I don't listen to any of this new music is because I grew up in a Southern Baptist church and played organ and keyboard,” Ward said. “Michael Jackson’s my favorite artist. I like his style. I don't do streaming, I prefer to have vinyl and CDs.”
Ward volunteer teaches students their CompTIA certification classes and cybersecurity protocols.
“Teaching the students about cybersecurity – it just warms my heart to see that, like they actually are coming to my class,” he said. “There's no halo for it. I'm not grading them. They're trusting me to tell them, to guide them in their journey to cybersecurity. I get emails all the time. Like, can you speak to this person?”
His college, the College of Engineering and Technology, recognizes his enthusiasm and generous nature.
“We had him present to our President's STEM Advisory Board a couple (of weeks ago), and he just knocked it out of the park,” said Paul Lambertson, the college's dean. He starts off his presentation, ‘First and foremost, I’m a man of God.’”
Lambertson added, “We're doing something right here. We were doing something right here.”
Ward talks with students to learn their interest in pursuing a career in cybersecurity. He is focused on their commitment to their career, not merely to a job.
“My goal is to see what the Lord has called you to do, and I would have a conversation,” he said. “And I want to get that out of you and see if it’s cyber-something you're really interested in. You'll be surprised at how many people I ask, ‘Why are you in cyber?’”
The answers sometimes confound him.
“I hear, ‘Man, you know it pays good.’ I don't want to hear that because it does pay really good, but it's still a STEM field,” Ward said. “If they’re like, ‘I'm only in cybersecurity for the money,’ that's just like saying, ‘I'm only in nursing because I watch 'Grey's Anatomy.’”
He said that a student studying cybersecurity for the money is not going to go too far.
“Seeing what the Lord has called for these people is what I feel I'm called to do,” Ward said. “I feel I'm called to help people. And if I can do that with cybersecurity and training, or even just listening to other people, then that's how I would spend my days.”
Right now, he spends every Thursday with his FBI internship. His role has him learning a variety of aspects of investigation and enforcement. He’s learned about “hops” and “mules” in the world of scams.
He explains that when money is scammed, it’s rapidly dispersed through various bank accounts around the world. These are the hops. The mules are unwitting human conduits for moving the money. Sometimes it’s done through a “job” processing invoices and transferring payments with the mule able to keep a small percentage as a commission.
“I dealt with $32 million worth of cyber fraud (just in Phoenix),” Ward said. “It was a lot of money, but it was great work, even though most of the money is not recoverable due to the amount of hops. Let's say that the money goes between the different accounts, different mules or whatever the case may be. There's just no way to get all that money back. So that's why we do security awareness training.”
In his fusion role, he has been involved with violent crimes, threats, fugitive warrants and more. The FBI’s fusion cell gathers intelligence about violent crimes and the relationships to other crimes associated with the violence.
“Technically, my job and role is as an intelligence analyst for violent crimes,” Ward said. “I did get to do some field work. It was amazing. I loved it. We’d be there at 3 a.m. We don't want to catch them when they're at work.”
His work has immersed him in espionage briefings, finding criminals, tracing money and much more. It’s exciting to be so involved, he said. Ward has a lot of passion for that role.
“I'm a big advocate for justice. I'm a big advocate for us as a people. I'm very big on, ‘You do the crime, you do the time,’” he said. “But (all that) in a more FBI way. If you're doing something that's going to put us American people in danger, there should be justice behind it via the process that we have as a government.”
Ward is thankful of what brought him to this point in his life.
“Having faith (is) knowing that I've had, thank God, a very good life,” he said. “One thing my mom always tells me is that, ‘You have good problems.’ So I play (music), and because the grace of Jesus Christ helps me every day, I know that I have Him on my side and I can do all things through Him because He's the one who strengthens me.”
GCU senior writer Eric Jay Toll can be reached at [email protected].
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