Honoring the Life of Robert Bryan Sloan, Jr.
HCU President
Dr. Robert Bryan Sloan, Jr., of Houston, TX, passed away suddenly but peacefully after an unexpected stroke on July 4, 2026, in Houston, TX, surrounded by his wife, Sue, their seven children, their spouses, and grandchildren. He was born on February 7, 1949, in Coleman, TX, to Robert Bryan Sloan and Maggie Simonton Sloan. After growing up in Abilene, TX, where he was a standout baseball player and was elected to the Abilene Cooper High School Hall of Fame, he attended Baylor University and was a member of the baseball team his freshman year. He met and married his wife, Sue, before graduating in 1970. After earning his MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, he and Sue moved to Bristol, England, where they studied for one year at Trinity College and the University of Bristol under J.I. Packer and had their first of seven children, Charissa. He completed his Doctorate in Theology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. They returned to Texas, where he served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Roscoe, TX, and taught New Testament as an adjunct at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene for three years. He subsequently taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, from 1980 to 1983.
In 1983, he and Sue moved to Lorena, TX, with their growing family, and he began his thirteen-year span of teaching New Testament at Baylor University. During this period, Robert was active in his community, coaching his children’s soccer and Little League baseball teams, buying and selling cattle at local auctions, and serving as the President of the Lorena School Board for several years. Throughout these years of teaching New Testament at Southwestern and Baylor, he served as interim pastor to over twenty-five churches in Texas and Oklahoma, including a two-year stint at Houston’s Tallowood Baptist Church. In his fifteen years of preaching as an interim pastor, he missed only one Sunday in the pulpit for the occasion of the birth of his seventh child, Paul. In 1994, he was appointed as the founding Dean of George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, TX. He held this position until he was elected President of Baylor University in February 1995.
He served as President of Baylor University from 1995 to 2005 and Chancellor until 2006. Robert was influential on many fronts during this era: he oversaw the vision of Baylor 2012, a holistic mission to launch Baylor as an elite teaching and research university with a distinctive Christian character; he and Sue brought dancing to campus; he convened and chaired the first council of Presidents for the Power-Six athletic conferences; he was elected by his peers to serve as chairman of the board of the Big XII Athletic Conference; and in 1996, he was inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence alongside Cal Ripken Jr. and Leonard Coleman.
In 2006, he was elected President of Houston Christian University, a role in which he served until his death. During this period, the university experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment and campus expansion. In 2008, Robert and the Board of Trustees approved “The Ten Pillars: Faith and Reason in a Great City” as a bold vision to fulfill Houston Christian University’s responsibility for the renewal of Christian higher education. Robert and Sue have been richly blessed by the HCU family and regard it as one of God’s greatest gifts to their lives. From 2022 to 2026, Robert served as co-pastor of Heights Church alongside his son, Paul Sloan. He loved the many roles he served throughout his life, but the one he cherished most was “Pops” to his twenty-six grandchildren.
All his life, Robert was a faithful and humble servant of the Lord, in whom he trusted for his salvation and the world’s redemption. After God, he loved none more than his wife of 56 years, Sue Collier Sloan, his seven children and their spouses, and his twenty-six grandchildren. He will be remembered for countless reasons by the many families and individuals he impacted through his teaching, pastoring, leadership, and friendship. He had a deep love of the scriptures, which he read and studied daily, particularly in the morning with a large cup of tea. He loved reading and playing dominoes, games, and golf with family and friends, all of whom enjoyed his quick and dry wit. He authored many well-known works of New Testament scholarship and the creative fiction series, Hamelin Stoop. His family will especially remember him as a master storyteller, a careful listener, a keeper of traditions and deep convictions, and a wise and joyful presence among his children and grandchildren. He will be greatly missed, but we grieve with hope because of the promise of Christ’s return and resurrection.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Bryan and Maggie, his brother, Michael David Sloan, and two grandsons, Samuel Larson and Isaiah Holt.
He is survived and missed by his wife, Sue Sloan, his sister, Patricia Wynne, his brother-in-law, Jim Wynne, and sister-in-law Kim Sloan, his seven children and their spouses, Charissa and Derrick Dvorak, Bryan and Amy Sloan, Eraina and Bryan Larson, Michael and Ali Sloan, Alathea and Justin Holt, Sophie and Mac Macfarlan, Paul and Meghan Sloan, and twenty-four grandchildren: Roberta Dvorak; Robby, Juliet, and Lincoln Sloan; Lucy, Abby, Liv, and Luke Larson; Collier, Kaira, Ellia, and Ivy Sloan; Henry, Benjamin, Ruthie, and Jude Holt; Sloan, Madden, Milly and Mercy Macfarlan; and Elijah, Kate, Elizabeth, and Lucy Sloan. He is also survived by many cousins, nieces, and nephews, and other family whom he loved dearly.
Memorial Information
All are invited to a memorial service to grieve his loss, celebrate his life, and express gratitude for the assurance of resurrection through Jesus Christ our Lord. The service will be held on Friday, July 10, at 11:00 a.m. in the Linda and Archie Dunham Theater of the Joella and Stewart Morris Cultural Arts Center on the campus of Houston Christian University. A reception will follow in McNair Hall.
A private family service was held at Brown Ranch Cemetery in Coleman, TX.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Robert B. Sloan Jr. Memorial Fund at Houston Christian University. In special remembrance honoring the life of Robert B. Sloan, Jr.
Give to the Robert B. Sloan, Jr. Memorial Fund
The service may be viewed via live stream:
Memorial Service Livestream