David Starr Jordan was born on January 19, 1851, in Gainesville, New York.

He was an educator and ichthyologist. He was inspired by Louis Agassiz to pursue his studies in ichthyology and graduated from Cornell University in 1872 with a master's degree in botany. Jordan initially taught natural history courses at several small Midwestern colleges and secondary schools. In 1875, he obtained a medical degree, M.D., from Indiana Medical College. He became a Professor of Zoology at the Indiana University Bloomington in 1879. In 1885, he was named the nation's youngest president of Indiana University and in 1891, he was offered the presidency of Leland Stanford Junior University, which was about to open in California. He served Stanford as president until 1913 and then chancellor until his retirement in 1916, promoting science education and Darwinian natural selection. He served as the president of the National Education Association and was a member of the Bohemian Club and the University Club in San Francisco. Jordan served as a director of the Sierra Club (1892-1903), president of the World Peace Foundation (1910-1914), and president of the World Peace Conference in 1915. In 1928, he served on the initial board of trustees of the Human Betterment Foundation, a eugenics organization that advocated compulsory sterilization legislation in the U.S. In retirement, he remained active, writing on ichthyology, world relations, peace, and his autobiography.

In 1875, he married Susan Bowan (1845–1885), and in 1887, he married Jessie L. Knight (1866–1952). He died on September 19, 1931, in Stanford, California.