10 questions with former Penn State president Bryce Jordan

The Bryce Jordan Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, but its namesake reached an equally impressive impressive milestone several months ago when he celebrated his 91st birthday.

Bryce Jordan held the office of Penn State’s president from 1983 to 1990, a seven-year tenure during which the Campaign for Penn State raised almost $300 million and helped to generate 111 chairs and other additional faculty positions.

Since leaving Penn State and relocating to Austin, Texas, Jordan has indulged his passion for education primarily through consulting work, but he still finds himself stopped on the streets by people with a connection to the Nittany Lions.

Below, Jordan reflects on his time at Penn State and the building that bears his name.

Q: What was the first event you attended at the Bryce Jordan Center?

A: I gave the commencement address there on Jan. 6, 1996. I believe that graduation ceremony was the first event ever held at the center.

Q: When was the last time you visited the Bryce Jordan Center?

A: I think it was about 10 years ago. My wife and I happened to be in State College and were invited by BJC staff to take the grand tour. This included the locker rooms, the media room and many other areas the public rarely has the opportunity to see. We loved it.

Q: What was your reaction when you found out they would be naming the arena after you?

A: Initially, I was kind of surprised. I was — and am — very pleased and proud to have the center bear my name.

Q: What have you been up to in the 20 years since the Bryce Jordan Center opened?

A: For the first dozen or so years after I left Penn State, I did a lot of consulting work, undertaking a number of major planning studies of universities around the country and even overseas. During that same period of time, I had the privilege of serving as an adviser to the presiding federal judge in a landmark desegregation case involving historically black public universities in Alabama. I also had a seat on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

More recently, primarily because of mobility problems caused by a severely arthritic back, I’ve stayed pretty close to home here in Austin, concentrating on my photography and writing a book on higher education.

Q: You’ve spent your career working at several universities. What stood out to you about your time at Penn State?

A: I think it’s the deep and widespread loyalty shown by students, alumni and, indeed, by the general public, including those not associated in any direct way to the university. This, I think, is largely because of the length of service Penn State has delivered to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania — academically and culturally, as well as in public service to agriculture, business and industry, education, athletics and a host of other areas.

Q: Can you point to a specific memory that was emblematic of your experience there?

A: It’s extraordinary the number of times people have stopped me on the street, or in an airport, or in an aisle of a grocery store just to identify themselves as having a Penn State association. Here in the state of Texas, I run into people all the time who want me to know that. Once after a meeting in Austin, three young men on staff at the University of Texas came up to me and said, “Dr. Jordan, we’re Penn Staters. You signed our diplomas.”

Q: Did you have a favorite spot on campus?

A: I think it would have to be the library. I often would go there to use reference materials or, since my field is musicology, to visit the music section. Sometimes just for recreation, I would read the shelves of sections of particular interest to me.

Q: What would you say was the greatest challenge you faced when you took over as university president in 1983?

A: Probably the greatest challenge was gaining an understanding of the university — its strengths and its areas of need for improvement. Another was getting acquainted with such a widespread institution. It took me at least six months to find time in my schedule to visit most of our campuses around the state.

Q: What was your proudest achievement?

A: I think I was able to give the university a new opinion of itself, more pride in itself. I believe I gave Penn State some sense of the fact that it was good and that it could be — and should be — better.

Q: The Bryce Jordan Center ensures that your name won’t be forgotten any time soon. How would you like to be remembered within the university community?

A: As someone who helped, someone who played a part in seeing the institution gain reputation as a strong public research university.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 11:40 PM with the headline "10 questions with former Penn State president Bryce Jordan."