Nunc Dimittis

Frank Brandon Jordan, Dean Emeritus of the College of Fine Arts of Drake University, died in Des Moines, IA, on April 7. A nationally recognized organist, university teacher and administrator, Dr. Jordan was a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and the Bush Conservatory. He was awarded honorary Doctor of Music degrees from Illinois Wesleyan and the Chicago Conservatory, and was the first visiting scholar at Union Theological Seminary's School of Sacred Music. In 1988 he was elected a National Arts Associate by Sigma Alpha Iota, and was the first recipient of the Drake University Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Jordan began his teaching career in 1929 at Illinois
Wesleyan University, where he eventually became Director of Graduate Studies
and Dean of the School of Music. In 1942 he became Dean of the College of Fine
Arts and Professor of Organ and Church Music at Drake University, and upon
retirement in 1972 was named Dean Emeritus of the College of Fine Arts. For 14
years he was national treasurer and a member of the executive committee of the
National Association of Schools of Music.

Dr. Jordan's former students include Robert Baker,
formerly Dean of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary and
Professor of Organ at Yale University; the late Russell Saunders, who taught at
Drake University and the Eastman School of Music; and Howard Kelsey, former
chairman of the organ department at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr.
Jordan is survived by his wife, Alice Jordan, nationally known composer.
Services were held April 14 at Central Presbyterian Church in Des Moines.