[408] DR. ANNE SLOAN, HOMETOWN UNIVERSITY PIONEER, DIES AT AGE 59

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 5, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

DR. ANNE SLOAN, HOMETOWN UNIVERSITY PIONEER, DIES AT AGE 59
Cancer Claims MTSU Advocate for International Education, Political Science, Women

(MURFREESBORO) – Dr. Anne Twining Sloan, a landmark contributor to educational progress at MTSU, died Saturday, April 4, at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro following a long struggle with cancer. She was 59 years old.
Sloan was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. More breast cancer was discovered in 2004. In 2006, the cancer had metastasized to her bones. Sloan had been absent from MTSU since October 2008, when she suffered a broken leg.
“She was the bravest, most optimistic person regarding her illness,” said Dr. Nancy Bertrand, a close friend and former professor in the Department of Elementary and Special Education.
An associate professor of political science at MTSU since 1993, Sloan served in numerous positions with the Tennessee Political Science Association, including president, between 1994 and 2004. At the time of her passing, she held the title of Special Assistant to the Provost for International Education since August 2004, a position she assumed full-time in January 2006.
Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College, was chair of the Department of Political Science when he hired Sloan in 1994.
“She was a devoted teacher and scholar who wanted to open the wider world to MTSU students,” Vile said. “Both her students and colleagues will miss her deeply.”
Sloan altered the curricular landscape, introducing the Model United Nations at MTSU. She also helped to design the Global Studies courses and minor. She directed the Global Studies Program from fall 1995 to August 2001.
“When it (Global Studies) became a minor, Anne took the lead,” said Dr. Doug Heffington, who succeeded Sloan as director of the Global Studies Program. “I’m not sure you could ask for a better mentor and colleague. She told me, ‘You don’t just need to work. You need to work the halls. You need to be attentive and talk to people.’”
Her other curricular innovations include the creation of courses on U.S. national security policy and comparative and international politics. During her MTSU career, she taught all those courses, as well as Comparative European Governments, International Relations, Foundations of Government, and the Political Status of Women in the World.
She held the title of Interim Associate Dean of Liberal Arts from January 2001 to July 2001, becoming associate dean in August 2001 and maintaining that post until December 2005.

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“Dr. Sloan and her family have deep roots in the University and Murfreesboro Communities,” said Dr. John McDaniel, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “She will be missed by her many friends and associates who have come to admire her as a professional, a professor, and, most of all, as a person. For me, she was not only an ally but a friend.”
Her university service includes chairing three department search committees and membership on numerous panels that dealt with the transition to a 120-credit-hour degree track, tenure and promotion for faculty members, and the erection of a memorial to MTSU students, staff, faculty and administrators who perished in military conflict, among other issues.
Born in Lebanon in 1949, Sloan grew up in Murfreesboro, where she attended Campus School and graduated from Central High School in 1967. Her father, Eugene Holloway Sloan, was a longtime fixture at MTSU. Among his various positions, he last served as a public relations spokesperson. One of her sisters-in-law, the late Thelma Sloan, was a secretary in the College of Education, as it was then known.
In addition to her academic achievements, Sloan belonged to the Col. Hardy Murfree Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution She also served on the Parent-Teachers Organization board, the Futures Committee, and the Curriculum Committee of Bradley School.
Before coming to MTSU, Sloan taught at the University of South Carolina and the State University of New York at Albany.
Sloan earned her bachelor’s degree from MTSU in 1971, her master’s degree from Louisiana State University in 1974, and her doctorate from The Ohio State University in 1982.
Sloan is survived by her husband, Steve Saunders, assistant director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program at MTSU, and her daughter, Samantha Saunders, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia; brothers Gene and Bill Sloan, both of Murfreesboro; and brother Joe Sloan of Nashville.
Visitation is slated for 4-7 p.m. Monday, April 6, at Woodfin Funeral Chapel, 1488 Lascassas Pike in Murfreesboro. The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, at 10 a.m. at Woodfin with interment to follow in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the MTSU Foundation.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color jpeg photo of Dr. Anne Twining Sloan, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.