Samuel M. Jordan

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McCormick Hall, American College of Tehran, circa 1930.

Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan (1871-1952) was an American presbyterian missionary in Persia.

He is sometimes referred to as the "father of modern education in Iran" ^[1], though Amir Kabir (due to his establishment of Darolfonoon) is generally thought to be more deserving of this title.

After graduating first from Lafayette College and then from the Princeton Theological Seminary, in 1898, he first arrived in Tehran and spent 43 years as a missionary in Iran. Under his direction the establishment that later took the name of Alborz High School, was upgraded to the American College of Tehran and received a permanent charter from the Board of Regents of the State University of New York in 1932.^[2]. Dr. Jordan served as president of the institution from 1899-1940. He received the first Scientific Medal of Iran in 1940.

In appreciation of his many pioneering services to the Higher Education in Iran, a boulevard in Tehran, Jordan Blvd., was named after him today in Tehran. Although after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the street's name has been changed (to Africa), the old name is still widely used. A statue of him was dedicated (citation needed): Perhaps the only such bust of a Westerner in Iran at that time, still exists today. And a theater in Tehran was also named after him (citation needed).

On April 21, 2005 Microtechnology pioneer Fariborz Maseeh and the Massiah Foundation pledged $2 million to create an innovative interdisciplinary research center at UC Irvine named "The Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture" that will bring together scholars in Persian history, language, culture, art and literature.