Iowa State band director Joseph Christensen, 54, died Thursday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., from complications of a liver transplant, which he received on Sept. 11.

Christensen came to ISU in 1973 and had been the director of bands since 1979.

As band director, Christensen was in charge of seven bands and received national awards for the wind ensemble. He took the ensemble to competitions in Mexico and also received honors from the College Band Directors Association.

Martin Province, associate director of bands, said he attributes his own success to Christensen. Province has been at ISU for only two years, but he spoke highly of Christensen.

“Over the past 20 or 25 years, the football team hasn’t always done well, but the marching band has always been a success,” Province said. “He’s made the marching band what it is today.”

Province also said Christensen was a private man who did not brag about his many accomplishments.

Christensen was the past president of the Iowa Band Masters Association and was elected to the American Band Directors Association, which has only 225 to 230 members, chosen out of all of the high school bands and college bands in the country, Province said.

Christensen’s students called him “Mr. C” and respected him as a teacher.

“He was a really knowledgeable musician and knew how to get through to people,” said Brenton Pyle, junior in mathematics and former trumpet player in the marching band.

“It was neat how he took the time to talk to people,” said Marie Maly, trumpeter in the marching band.

Maly, sophomore in civil engineering, said she first met Christensen during her pre-enrollment campus visit. She said all the engineering professors were busy, but “Mr. C” gladly agreed to chat.

“No one in engineering would talk to me, but he sat down with my parents and me and talked to us, even though I was just an engineering major who wanted to be in band,” she said.

Maly played in the ISU symphonic band last year, which Christensen also directed.

“He picked such challenging music and didn’t let anyone slack off, but he made it fun for everybody,” she said. “You could just tell when he directed a band that he was putting everything of himself into it.”

Sue Haug, head of the music department, said Christensen was the kind of teacher who would put aside other personal responsibilities to help students if they had problems.

Haug also said Christensen’s classes received high ratings from students because “he could connect with them.” She said students and colleagues respected him as a teacher and a person.

“I will really miss him … He was a remarkable colleague and person,” Haug said.

According to the Des Moines Register, at Iowa State’s Saturday football game against Ball State, band members wore black armbands in honor of Christensen. The band “played on” for its halftime show, which included nearly 2,000 students from 21 high schools.

Christensen had not been teaching this semester because of his health.