[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13214]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ROBERT JORDAN

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Sunday, September 25 marks the end of an 
era. After 43 years of covering the news in Chicago, Robert Jordan will 
officially anchor his last newscast on ``Chicago's Very Own'' WGN 9. 
Mr. Jordan, an Atlanta native, is unique in journalism. Instead of 
moving from market to market, he landed with WGN in 1973 just 3 years 
into his career and never left the city. Outside of a 2-year stint as a 
Midwest correspondent for CBS, Mr. Jordan was a WGN fixture.
  Mr. Jordan has enjoyed a reputation of being a serious anchor and 
reporter while maintaining a sense of humor for the lighter moments. 
Since 1995, Mr. Jordan has been coanchoring the weekend newscasts with 
Jackie Bange. Video of their secret handshakes during commercial breaks 
has gone viral, with one such clip earning more than 7 million views on 
YouTube.
  In 2014, Mr. Jordan was named as the first journalist-in-residence 
for the University of Chicago's Careers in Journalism, Arts, and Media 
program. At the time of announcement, Mr. Jordan told an industry 
reporter that he was ``eager to work with young journalists and help 
guide them at this challenging time in our profession.'' There is no 
doubt those students had a tremendous opportunity to learn from one of 
the best, but those students weren't the first to learn from Mr. 
Jordan. His daughter Karen followed in his footsteps and now is a news 
anchor at WLS 7 in Chicago. Mr. Jordan's son-in-law Christian Farr is a 
reporter at WMAQ 5, so delivering the news to millions of viewers in 
Chicago truly has become the family business.
  Mr. Jordan's work in education was a natural fit for a man who earned 
a Ph.D. in philosophy of education with a minor in ethics from Loyola 
University Chicago in 1999 after receiving degrees from Northeastern 
Illinois University and Roosevelt University.
  Before he picked up a microphone, Mr. Jordan served our Nation as a 
surgical assistant in the U.S. Army. He continues to serve through his 
role on the boards of several community organizations.
  With retirement providing some free time on the weekends, Mr. Jordan 
said he plans to go to fun events with his wife, Sharon, that he missed 
out on while working. He is also going to continue his work with the 
Greater Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association on a unique 
program called the Memory Preservation Project. Mr. Jordan interviews 
people who are newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's for the project and 
creates a video of cherished family memories before the wretched 
disease robs victims of their ability to recall events in detail. With 
a new person being diagnosed with Alzheimer's every 67 seconds, there 
are many families affected by this terrible disease.
  Mr. Jordan has promised to turn up from time to time when WGN needs 
him to fill in for a colleague, but Sunday is truly the end of an era 
in Chicago journalism.
  I wish a happy retirement to one of ``Chicago's Very Own,'' Robert 
Jordan.

                          ____________________