Bryce Jordan papers

Bryce Jordan was born September 22, 1924 in Clovis, New Mexico. He received his bachelor degree with honors in music from The University of Texas at Austin in 1948, his master degree in music 1949 from the University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. in 1956 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1971 to 1981, he was president of the University of Texas at Dallas.

In July 1981, he became executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer for academic affairs of the University of Texas System. He took office as president of Penn State on July 1, 1983. Under Dr. Jordan's leadership, faculty recruitment and retention were stressed. During his tenure, Penn State was accepted into the Big Ten (1989) and moved from the rank of twentieth to fifteenth among all universities in the United States becoming tenth among all tax supported universities. He nearly doubled research expenditures. He also initiated the Campaign for Penn State, which raised an unprecedented $350 million for the university. Jordan launched plans to build a research park on campus, modeled after research parks near Stanford University and the University of North Carolina. Jordan, an outspoken critic of racism, presided at a time of racial tensions on campus. On January 11, 1996, the Bryce Jordan Center, an on-campus sports and entertainment venue opened. Bryce Jordan retired August 31, 1990.