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Dan Robertson

August 18, 1940 — September 24, 2017

Dan Robertson

Dan H. Robertson, a business professor and administrator for Texas A&M University for 24 years, died Sunday [Sept. 24] after a long battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was 77.

Dan joined the A&M marketing department in 1981 as chairman, and was later an assistant and then associate dean in the College of Business, overseeing the MBA and Executive MBA programs. He then became Dean of Graduate Studies before returning to marketing and his first love, teaching, before retiring in 2005.

As an academic, Dan worked tirelessly to improve access for all students, especially minorities and those who were economically disadvantaged. He was instrumental in leading A&M’s drive to recruit more minority students, a cause he continued to pursue at the graduate level as well.

He eschewed pretense, academic or otherwise, and preferred his students call him “Dan.” If they found that too informal, then “Dr. Dan” would suffice.

Dan’s love of marketing dovetailed with an affinity for shopping. He also loved fishing, especially fly fishing the mountain streams of Montana, where he and Sue, his wife of 55 years, had many adventures. He was known to squeeze in the occasional impromptu trip to Lake Somerville to wet a line before class.

Dan traveled widely and made friends wherever he went. He received cards from the rangers in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, both favorite haunts. Dan loved the West, and frequently re-read the dairies of explorers Lewis and Clark. His interest led to a fascination with western artwork, which adorns the walls of his College Station home. He was a voracious reader, from historical non-fiction about World War II to the history of the Carmelite religious order, which he joined after converting to Catholicism. He was a professed Lay Carmelite.
Dan Robertson was born in Tulsa, Okla., in 1940, the son of a Methodist minister who also served as a volunteer fireman and played semi-professional baseball. Dan grew up as a true student of the game, and although the money of professional sports turned him off, he continued to enjoy watching college sports – and especially Aggie baseball – for most of his life. His parents moved to Jenks, Okla., when he was five years old, and his father, Thell Robertson, became pastor of the First Methodist Church, the first of 20 Oklahoma churches he would serve. Dan and his parents moved back to Tulsa in 1950, and Dan graduated from Edison High School there in 1958. He didn’t plan to attend college because his parents didn’t have the money, but he received a scholarship to the University of Tulsa, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1962. While in college, he met and married Laura Sue Lambiotte, a student nurse at St. John's Hospital in Tulsa. They married the same year he graduated.

After a stint in the U. S. Air Force, Dan worked for three years as a salesman for Proctor & Gamble, then three years selling medical supplies for Baxter Laboratories in Dallas. While working for Baxter, he completed his master of business administration degree at Southern Methodist University, and in 1968 he left Baxter to pursue his doctorate at the University of Texas. He completed his Ph. D. in 1971 and accepted an assistant professorship in the marketing department at the University of Denver. In 1975, he took a faculty position at George State University in Atlanta, and later became head of the marketing department there. They moved to College Station in 1981.


Dan is survived by his wife, Sue, daughter Laura Robertson Steffy and son-in-law Loren Steffy of Wimberley, as well as three grandchildren, Ben Steffy of San Marcos, Daniel Steffy of Midland and Anne Marie Steffy of Lubbock. Dan’s son, Gary, died last year.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church’s SAY Youth program; MD Anderson Leukemia Research; American Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; or a charity of your choice. We want to thank Dr. Ravandi of M.D. Anderson, Dr. Tripathy and the cancer center staff, Monsignor John Malinoski, Deacon Ted Baker, The congregation of Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Lay Carmelite community for their many prayers.

A visitation will be held from 5-8 PM on Friday, September 29, 2017 with a Rosary and Vigil Service to begin at 6:30 PM at Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 AM on Saturday, September 30, 2017 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Bryan with a Reception to follow at the Malinowski Center and interment at College Station City Cemetery.



















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