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An American Educator in Iran: The Life and Times of Samuel Martin Jordan

Series: Bibliotheca Iranica: Americans in Iran/Persia Collection 7
Availability: Forthcoming
Published: 2026
Page #: xvii + 304
Size: 6 X 9
ISBN: 978-1-56859-428-6
plates, index, notes, references

Quick Overview

Samuel M. Jordan (1871 – 1952) was a Presbyterian missionary who lived in Iran with his wife, née Mary Wood Park, for 42 years. As founder and president of the American College of Teheran, later renamed Alborz College of Teheran, he played a major role in the development of modern education in Iran until the college was taken over by the state and turned into a high school in 1940, whereupon the Jordans returned to the United States. Samuel Martin Jordan is fondly remembered by many educated Iranians, and a major neighborhood in Tehran is still locally known as the Jordan neighborhood.


The book is organized into three parts. Part I includes all of Jordan’s own writings. Part II comprises essays and fragments about Jordan and his accomplishments authored by Americans. Part III contains translations of two Persian texts about Jordan and Alborz College written by Iranian alumni. 

author

H. E. Chehabi

Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi is a professor of international relations and history emeritus at Boston University. He is the author of three books, most recently Onomastic Reforms: Family Names and State Building in Iran (2020); editor or coeditor of twelve books, most recently Political, Social and Cultural History of Iran: Essays in Honour of Ervand Abrahamian (2025); and numerous refereed articles, book chapters, essays, and encyclopedia entries.

About the Contributors vii

Introduction ix
H. E. Chehabi

Part I: Writings of Dr. Samuel M. Jordan

1. “The Power Plant in Persia” 3

2. Address of President Jordan at the laying of the cornerstone of Moore Science Hall,
July 27th,1931 11

3. Letter. Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia,
October 10, 1934. 15

4. Constructive Revolution in Iran 25

5. The Only Christian College in Iran 31

6. Startling Changes in Iran (1936) 39

7. Jordan, ’95, Cites Notable Service, College Active in Promoting Social and Political Reforms 41

Pat II: Writings About Samuel M. Jordan

8. Climbing to the Top of Persia (1930) 47

9. “Mr. Chips” of Teheran 49
William N. Wysham

10. Lafayette in Persia:Sketch of the History of the American College of Teheran and its Relation to Lafayette College 57


11. Excerpt from By Camel and Car to the Peacock
Throne 63
E. Alexander Powell

12. Excerpt from Around the World on a Bicycle 67
Fred A. Birchmore

13. Alborz College of Teheran and Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan: Founder and President 71
Arthur C. Boyce

14. Sam Jordan and the Evangelical Ethic in Iran 145
Yahya Armajani

15. Dr. Jordan of Tehran: American, Christian,
Teacher 160
Michael Zirinsky

16. Alborz College of Tehran, Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan and the American Faculty: Twentieth-Century Presbyterian Mission Education and Modernism
in Iran 182
Thomas M. Ricks

Part III: Reminiscences of Iranians

17. Jordan’s Way 215
Shokrollāh Nāser

18. “I want to study, but I have no money”: Memories
of the College, later Alborz High School 277
Ahmad Dashti (Abdizadeh)

Appendix. Time Line of Dr. Samuel Martin Jordan’s
Life 283
Thomas M. Ricks

Index 287

About the Author 295

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