Board Chairman, President Announce Leadership Transition
WACO, Texas -- After leading Baylor University through a decade of significant change and progress, President Robert B. Sloan Jr. and Board of Regents Chairman Will Davis announced at a press conference today that Sloan will transition to a new role as the university's chancellor, effective June 1.
"Baylor has been through a challenging period over the past 18 months, and the Board of Regents and the administration have been actively engaged in discussions over this time period about how best to address these challenges and do what is best for the University," Davis said. "By mutual agreement, the Board and President Sloan have arrived at a decision whereby he will transition from his current role as President and CEO of Baylor University to his new role as Chancellor, effective June 1, 2005. The change in responsibilities will be presented for ratification at the February 3-4 Board of Regents meeting."
At the news conference, Davis praised Sloan for leading Baylor through a period of bold changes as the 160-year-old institution has sought to position itself as a leader in American higher education while strengthening its Christian mission.
"I believe if you look back over the last decade, you will see ample evidence that President Sloan has led Baylor through a period of tremendous growth and progress," Davis said. "Anyone who walks across this campus or talks to faculty, staff, students, parents, donors and alumni, or to higher education leaders across the nation, will see and hear tangible expressions of the progress made under President Sloan."
Sloan, a tenured professor of religion and founding dean of George W. Truett Theological Seminary, assumed the Baylor presidency on June 1, 1995. Over the past decade the Baylor alumnus has presided over significant academic, physical, financial and reputational expansion. Sloan's greatest achievement was the September 2001 adoption of Baylor 2012, the University's bold, 10-year vision to move into the upper echelons of American higher education while strengthening its Christian mission.
In his role as chancellor, Sloan will focus on fund-raising; student recruitment; networking with higher education leaders on the state and national levels; cultivating Baylor's relationships with denominational and Christian leaders and organizations; and otherwise promoting the Baylor 2012 vision to the university's constituents.
"It has been my privilege to launch the university upon the exciting journey we call Baylor 2012. Now that the voyage is well under way, it is time for someone new to navigate sometimes choppy waters, always aiming toward the fully charted destination ahead," Sloan said.
"For that reason, the Board of Regents and I have mutually agreed that I will leave the President's Office to become chancellor at the end of the current semester. The regents and I remain fully committed to the Vision. From the post of chancellor, I will focus on fundraising, recruitment, and promoting Vision 2012 every way I can. This university and the vision for its future remain my passion and my calling," he said.
"There are undeniable challenges still ahead. They come with the territory. But I am convinced that the Board of Regents and the Baylor family will welcome the new president and give their all to achieve both unity and continued progress."
Davis said an interim president and a presidential search committee will be appointed later this spring. In the meantime, Sloan will continue to serve as president and CEO through May 31.