St. Thomas English professor Michael Jordan died Sunday from pancreatic cancer.

Jordan, 63, came to St. Thomas in 1982 along with his wife and fellow English professor, Brenda Powell, who retired in 2014. During his time at the university, he served as division director of Humanities and Fine Arts, director of undergraduate academic affairs, associate vice provost for undergraduate studies and chair of the English Department, History Department and the CORE Curriculum Task Force.

English Professor Erika Scheurer, who was hired during Jordan’s time as chair of the English Department, said he was especially passionate about the CORE Curriculum.

“It was so important to him. It was one of the committees he headed up,” Scheurer said. “To him, it was just so important to preserve what makes St. Thomas unique and what makes our education so good, in his view, for students coming in.”

Jordan also taught many English classes, specializing in comparative and classical Greek literature, literary theory, philosophical anthropology and history and theory of liberal education. He was one of two professors who received the Professor of the Year award in 1997 while he was chair of the English Department.

Scheurer said teaching was at the heart of Jordan’s contributions to St. Thomas. He not only taught her “what it means to be a professor,” but he was also extremely dedicated to his students.

“He wasn’t out for himself – he was out for St. Thomas and, No. 1, for the students. I know a big part of the job he enjoyed, obviously, was teaching. He taught long beyond what any mortal would do,” Scheurer said. “He could’ve taken course releases that he never took. Even once he was in administration, he still taught.”

While Jordan was committed to all of his students, according to Scheurer, “He had a special place in his heart for students who struggled.”

English Professor Andrew Scheiber, who also came to St. Thomas while Jordan was department chair, recognized Jordan’s ability to bring people together.

“What he brought to the community was really a sense of the university as a community. He really understood us as having a common purpose and common project together in terms of the education of students with the St. Thomas vision,” Scheiber said.

Jordan is survived by his wife and two daughters.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5 at House of Hope Presbyterian Church. Instead of flowers, Powell has asked for contributions to St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in her husband’s honor.

“On a personal level, I think that we’ll miss him horribly,” Scheiber said. “He was always somebody who was good for interesting conversation. Whether it was about Greek literature, which he also loved, or whether it was about the politics of the university, which he was always interested in.”

Scheurer added that Jordan was “a person who always saw the good in everyone and everything.”

Theresa Bourke can be reached at bour5445@stthomas.edu.