About

Arden Jensen was born and reared in Miami, Florida. He attended public schools and graduated from Miami Jackson High School. He was drafted into the Army in 1969 and served in the infantry on and in the Korean DMZ with the 2/9 Inf. 2nd Infantry Division. He rose to the rank of sergeant (E-5).

After separation from the Army, Dr. Jensen raced motorcycles (oval dirt track) professionally and was a motorcycle mechanic. His racing career came to an end when he ran into a fence at a short track in Henry, IL.

Then, he attended Miami-Dade Community College, where he earned an A.A. in Liberal Arts. While at Miami-Dade, he met Denise, who was to become his wife in 1976. They were saved in 1975 through the ministry of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Hialeah, Florida. Dr. Jensen received a B.A. (highest honors) in English from Florida International University in 1976.

Arden and Denise went to Florida State University, where she received a B.S. in food and nutrition and he received an M.A. in English.

In 1982 the couple, who had one daughter with another on the way, went to Sendai, Japan, where they served as short-term missionaries for two years.

After returning from Japan, Dr. Jensen taught as an adjunct at Tallahassee Community College, was the middle school coordinator at Holy Comforter Episcopal Day School, and worked on motorcycles and small engines.

In 1986, Dr. Jensen went to work as an assistant professor of English at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida. While there he earned a Ph.D. in English from Florida State University and rose to the rank of professor.

After seventeen years at Gulf Coast, he felt called to teach at a Christian college or university. The door opened at Lee University in 2003. At Lee he teaches composition, literature, and Japanese Language and Culture classes. He is a member of the Asian Studies Program at Lee.

Dr. Jensen’s great joys at Lee include attending chapel, bringing the things of God to bear in the classroom, and getting to know and teach the men and women who are the future leaders of the church. In addition, he hopes to enable Lee students opportunities for service and study in Japan.

Dr. Jensen is an ordained elder and deacon in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He is an active member of Trinity PCA in Cleveland, where he occasionally serves as a substitute Sunday school teacher. He and Denise have four children, two of whom are grown up and live elsewhere.

He rides a 1978 Yamaha SR 500. He and Denise grow vegetables in their garden and enjoy having students come to their home.