Miles College President Rev. Albert J. Sloan Dead at 62
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
The Rev. Albert J. Sloan, president of Miles College and the man who brought the historically Black institution back from the brink of closing, died Nov. 25 at a Birmingham hospital. He was 62.
Sloan, a Methodist minister, had surgery in October and died in the coronary unit at Brookwood Medical Center, Miles spokesman Ricky Lee says.
The family did not release the cause of his death or the reason for his hospitalization.
Sloan was the 12th president in the school’s 100-year history but the first to be chosen from its ranks. He came to Miles in 1971 and earned a law degree.
Sloan became president in 1989, taking the reins in a year that saw the college come very close to closing amid a financial and management crisis.
Under his leadership, Miles stabilized enrollment, now about 1,700, improved finances and strengthened its academic programs. The campus has since increased from 32 to 52 acres.
Former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., who teaches an African-American experience course part time at Miles, says Sloan’s shoes will be hard to fill.
“It’s a great loss,” says Arrington, who also is a Miles alumnus. “He’s done a truly outstanding job leading the college.”
Sloan is survived by his wife, Emma Lillian Lee of Albany, Ga.; three daughters; and his sister, says Lee.
— Associated Press
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