The Borderuds’ return to Baylor wasn’t part of a long-term plan. Jennifer Borderud left Waco to pursue an information studies degree at the University of Texas at Austin, while Josh Borderud spent a year in Milwaukee pursuing doctoral work in history before reconsidering his career path. Their decision eventually brought them back to Waco, where two different professional journeys took shape at the university that first brought them together.
For Jennifer, that connection to Baylor began long before she arrived on campus. Growing up in Corpus Christi, she often heard about the University from her grandfather, a Baylor alumnus who hoped another generation of the family would follow in his footsteps.
Once she arrived at the University she pursued English, drawn to her love of reading and literature. She strayed from the path her family had previously followed, with her grandfather being a dentist and her mother being a hygiene professor.
“I wasn’t entirely certain what I wanted to be when I went to college, and so I just picked a degree,” Jennifer said. “I picked a subject that I liked, and I was kind of the first one to venture into the humanities for my family.”
Nonetheless, she ended up taking classes in the same building her grandfather had once studied in: Carroll Science Building. Currently housing the English department, the building once housed the very chemistry classes her grandfather had taken.
Following her graduation, she decided to stay and pursue her master’s degree and was assigned to be the research assistant for Dr. Mairi Rennie, the previous director of the Armstrong Browning Library.
“I started really paying attention to what the librarians who worked here were doing, and got very interested in their work and sort of seeing what it’s like behind the scenes of a library, especially a library like this that has rare books and manuscripts in it,” Jennifer said.
The possibility of becoming a librarian hadn’t occurred to Jennifer before this assistantship began, yet once the doors were opened to her, the possibilities seemed endless. She educated herself on what the process of becoming a librarian looked like, and decided to earn her master’s degree in information studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Having that research assistant job here is really what helped me figure out what I wanted to do and sort of where I might be going next,” Jennifer said.
The son of veterans, Josh Borderud, grew up moving across the United States and Germany, living in 11 different places by the time he was 18 years old.
“I had always loved Texas. It was the longest place we had lived — which was just three years — and we lived just an hour down the road in Killeen, Fort Hood,” Josh said. “I ended up applying [to Baylor] and came down for the visit, and have, in many ways, stayed here ever since.”
While at the University, Josh studied history, earning his bachelor’s degree and developing strong relationships within the department, which he described as a departmental home. After completing his undergraduate studies, he stayed to pursue his master’s degree in history for similar reasons as Jennifer, as he was unsure which direction life was calling him next.
“It was an opportunity to continue studying in the same department, and I got a fellowship to be able to do that,” Josh said. “It kind of extended my Baylor experience for two years, which was really fun.”
In the midst of their undergraduate years at Baylor, Josh and Jennifer met each other, connected by Jennifer’s roommate and tethered together by their mutual friend group throughout their master’s programs.
“After school, after work, we would usually end up eating together or hanging out, so we just got to be really good friends,” Jennifer said. “Eventually, we did start dating, and I think a lot of people around us thought, ‘Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.’”
When Josh decided to leave Texas for a year to do Ph.D. work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he quickly realized the Ph.D. track was not what he wanted to pursue for a long-term career.
“While I was up there I realized that I missed Texas. I missed my then-girlfriend, now wife, Jennifer, and I realized I wanted to switch it up career-wise to have more control over where I could live,” Josh said. “I thought law might be the better path.”
Jennifer remembers that year as one that helped them make decisions about their future, and decide what they did and did not want that future to look like.
“It gave us some clarity because then we could really sort of talk through what we’re going to do,” Jennifer said.
Following Josh’s return to Texas, the pair got married in Austin, where they lived while Jennifer completed her information studies degree.
“We got married at a church right on the edge of UT’s campus, and then our reception was in the UT Alumni Center,” Jennifer said. “We made sure when we were leaving the reception that everyone did a sic’em, even though we were at UT.”
Following the completion of Jennifer’s program, the couple packed their bags and moved back to Waco, where Josh had received a scholarship to study at Baylor Law School, and Jennifer had secured a job as a rare book catalog librarian at Moody Memorial Library.
“I got my third Baylor University degree as a triple alumnus from the law school, and now I’m on faculty at the law school,” Josh said. “I can’t imagine myself apart from Baylor University because it’s been such a huge part of my life.”
For Jennifer, the decision to return to Waco became clearer as she settled into a job she loved. As she built her career at Baylor, Josh began considering how they could make a life there together.
“When I had gotten my job, and I really liked it a lot, he started thinking, ‘Well, let’s just try to figure out how we could stay here.’ So after he graduated he got a job nearby,” Jennifer said.
Josh began his career working as an assistant district attorney in Milam County, trying 20 jury trials in his first three years before transitioning to civil litigation at the Waco law firm formerly known as Pakis, Giotes, Page & Burleson, P.C.
“I think that experience was very helpful for me as a young lawyer to kind of learn how to evaluate cases and how to see that justice was done in every case,” Josh said.
While at Milam County, Josh got a taste for local government, and it motivated him to get involved in serving the community. In 2020, when his city councilmember decided not to run for re-election, he encouraged Josh to run in his stead.
The election season he ran in was unique due to pandemic-era voting complications. In a normal election season he would have been on the ballot in May, which historically has low voter turnout but highly informed voters. However, because of the pandemic, the May election was postponed until November, resulting in the largest single-member district city council turnout in the history of the city of Waco.
“Because neither myself nor my opponent had a lot of name recognition, it ended up being a very close race,” Josh said. “I’m grateful that I won, and it was definitely a memorable experience.”
He served nearly six years on the Waco City Council from November 2020 until May 2026. In June, Josh’s archive of correspondence, social media posts, and official documents from his time as a city councilman were acquired by The Texas Collection.
Josh is in his 11th year working at Baylor Law School, currently serving as director of clinical and pro bono programs and as a clinical assistant professor. He manages the Veterans Clinic, the Estate Planning Clinic, and the Juvenile Justice Clinic.
“It’s very rewarding to be able to mentor students, to guide them, and to help inspire them to serve others in their legal careers,” Josh said. “It’s a deeply meaningful experience for me.”
Growing up the son of veterans, Josh said he is glad to give back to the veteran community through his work with Baylor Law.
“Being part of those service missions of the University and of the law school is just something that really strikes a chord with me,” Josh said. “Given my parents’ service to our country, given my parents’ work in the church, that kind of life of service has a deep call to me.”
Jennifer stayed at Moody Library for about seven years before returning to the library that first sparked her interest in the field as the outreach librarian and eventually the director of Armstrong Browning Library.
“When I was here as a student, I thought I would love to work in a place like this someday, but it didn’t even occur to me that actually working here would even be a possibility,” Jennifer said. “I’m just proud that I can contribute to this place that really helped me find a path and that was very meaningful to me when I was in college.”
Since becoming the director of Armstrong Browning Library, Jennifer has established a teaching fellowship for Baylor faculty or graduate students to learn about the collection and develop assignments using the collection for their courses.
“Establishing that fellowship was a way to let faculty know that we’re really serious — we want your classes in here,” Jennifer said.
Additionally, the library is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary, with Jennifer at the helm organizing academic symposiums, community events, and performances that highlights the work of the Brownings.
The Borderuds have laid their roots in Waco and carved a home into the community they have loved since first attending the University.
“Growing up without a home, or without a lot of roots, I didn’t realize that by coming to Waco and Baylor, I would be, at 18 years old, kind of putting down roots for the rest of my life,” Josh said.
Jennifer echoed this sentiment, noting how the path home to Baylor was always there even if it wasn’t always apparent to the Borderuds.
“Looking back now, I can kind of see how all the pieces were falling together. It’s kind of neat to just end up here, both very proud of being Baylor grads, and being able to still be a part of the Baylor community,” Jennifer said. “It’s been very meaningful, and we feel very lucky, and certainly don’t take our experiences in Waco for granted.”
