Robert Byrd Jordan III (October 11, 1932 – February 16, 2020) was an American politician who served as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina for one term (1985–1989) under Governor James G. Martin and who unsuccessfully ran for Governor of North Carolina in 1988. Jordan, a native of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, graduated from North Carolina State University in 1954 with honors in forestry. Prior to being elected lieutenant governor, Jordan ran his family's lumber company and served in the North Carolina Senate as a Democrat from 1976 to 1984.