Tanner, Jordan

Jordan Tanner (born 1931) was an American foreign service officer and Utah State Representative.

Jordan Tanner received a business degree from the University of Utah. When he received his bachelor's he was also commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy. He spent the next two years aboard the USS Hornet. This was the first time he had spent a significant amount of time outside of Utah and began a new love for international work. He attended the University of California in Berkeley and obtained a master's in business administration. While studying there a professor suggested he look into the Foreign Service. He took this professor's advice and served for twenty-seven years as a Foreign Service officer. He married Pat in September of 1960 and then reported to Washington D.C. the next month for Foreign Service training. While a Foreign Service officer he served in Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Australia. He decided as his three sons were starting college that it was time to return to the United States and did so in 1988. In 1990 he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives representing District sixty-three in east Provo. He served as a representative for ten years. He also volunteered as an adjunct professional at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies at Brigham Young University.