William Jordan made his mark as a teacher, researcher and national expert on U.S. taxation who advised state and federal government agencies on tax, finance and securities and shaped the careers of thousands of Florida State University accounting students.

Known for a sense of humor that made the highly detailed study of taxation more enjoyable, Jordan served on FSU’s accounting faculty from 1974 to 1998, then became comptroller for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has been an FSU professor emeritus since 2004.

Former students say Jordan transformed their understanding of complex tax laws through practical, real-world applications. He once said he never felt fulfilled unless students did well and that he taught some “very, very bright students who taught me a lot.”

He won numerous awards, including the Alpha Kappa Psi Teaching Award and the Florida State University Teaching and Advising Award. He twice won the Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Professor Award, and he rose to forever fame among his students in 1982, when he sat with them for the CPA exam and received the prestigious Elijah Watt Sells Award for spectacular performance – the second-highest score in Florida and seventh-best in the U.S.

A member of the American Taxation Association and the American Accounting Association, Jordan contributed to numerous academic and professional journals, including The CPA Journal, The Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance and The Journal of the American Taxation Association, and he provided litigation testimony throughout the U.S. as a damages and investments expert – experiences that he called frightening yet satisfying.

Additional public service included time as chairman of the State of Florida Financial and Technical Advisory Committee; consultant to the U.S. Treasury for financial and economic aspects of equipment tax shelters; and financial standards consultant to the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation.

Jordan earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Cornell University in 1962. He spent five years in the U.S. Navy, later rising to the rank of captain in the Navy Reserve, and worked three years as a stockbroker before earning a Master of Public Administration degree from Georgia State University. He earned his Ph.D. in accounting from Georgia State in 1974.