Phillip Emil Sloan

Phillip Emil Sloan, Attorney, Journalist, and Poet, Dies at 73. A lawyer by trade but a poet at heart, Phillip Emil Sloan was born and died during the High Holidays — a sacred season of reflection and renewal for his Jewish heritage that mirrored the depth and spirit with which he lived his life. Mr. Sloan, senior counsel in the Receivership Policy Unit of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the 2024 recipient of the agency’s Douglas H. Jones Legal Excellence Award, died peacefully on October 13, 2025, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., with his wife, Donna Cameron, and son, Andrew Cameron Sloan, at his side, after facing metastatic pancreatic cancer with quiet strength and dignity. He was 73. He was born on September 24, 1952, on the South Side of Chicago, the second of four children of Howard J. Sloan, an educator and Superintendent of Chicago schools, and Maryce Dorothy Klaff Sloan, a statistician who served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II and contributed to Allied codebreaking efforts in the South Pacific. His father was also a veteran of the war. From them, he inherited a reverence for learning, a strong sense of justice, and an unshakable set of values. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Martin Charles Sloan. Mr. Sloan graduated from Yale University in 1974 and earned his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1980. Before embarking on his legal career, Mr. Sloan worked as a journalist. He wrote for the Shoreline Times in Guilford, Conn., where he met his future wife, and later served as bureau chief and columnist for the Florida Keys Keynoter in Islamorada, Fla. He came to view his ultimate profession, international banking and finance law, as its own genre of writing, blending law and logic with clarity and purpose. He began his legal career as a derivatives attorney with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, working in New York and Paris, and later specialized in domestic and international financing transactions and bank regulatory matters at firms including Sidley Austin LLP and Connell & Wiener LLP. In 2010, he joined the FDIC, where he found what he often described as his most meaningful work. Following the 2008 financial crisis, he helped implement the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and in 2023 played a key role on the regulatory team that oversaw the takeover of Signature Bank, helping to protect depositors and uphold confidence in the U.S. financial system. His colleagues remember him as a brilliant legal mind who balanced rigor with humanity. A true Renaissance man, Mr. Sloan was a voracious reader, a lover of literature, film, and theater, and a connoisseur of good food and wine. He always knew where to find the best restaurants and was delighted to share meals with family and friends. He wrote and published poetry throughout his life, with work that reflected his keen eye, deep empathy, and moral clarity. He loved baseball — not just as a fan, but as a coach, guiding his son’s baseball and soccer teams for more than a decade. One of his last conversations with his son was about the 2025 postseason, a reminder that his love of the game and the bond it forged between them stayed with him until the very end. Those who knew him speak most often of his kindness and his unwavering moral compass. He had a gift for noticing and embracing those others might overlook, for showing up when it mattered, and for speaking out when something was unjust. He put others first and never hesitated to go the extra mile for those he loved. His love for his family was at the center of everything he did. He married Donna Cameron, an artist and filmmaker, on January 12, 1975. Together, they shared more than fifty years of partnership, creativity, and mutual respect, raising one son, Andrew, now of Chicago. Earlier this year, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an unforgettable evening surrounded by friends and family. Mr. Sloan is also survived by two brothers, Stephen Bailey Sloan of Cream Ridge, N.J., and Clifford Myer Sloan of Chevy Chase, Md., along with a wide circle of family and friends who cherished his wit, warmth, and generosity. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held November 9 in Brooklyn, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Library of Congress, supporting access to and the celebration of the arts he so cherished, or to Filmmaker For A Cause (FMFAC), a nonprofit that amplifies the voices of under-recognized organizations — reflecting his lifelong commitment to standing up for those who might otherwise be overlooked. Mr. Sloan entered and left the world during a sacred season — a legacy defined by conviction, curiosity, and kindness.

Phillip Emil Sloan

September 24, 1952 - October 13, 2025