Slusser, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, graduated summa cum laude in 1961 and then attended University of Poitiers, where he earned his diploma in the French language the following year.
[3] From 1971 to 1975 he taught English at California State College at San Bernardino as an assistant professor, also working as a freelance author, critic, and translator throughout this period.
He commented that the conference's ability to attract serious literary critics like Harry Levin spoke to the event's gravitas.
A host of science fiction writers and scholars have studied under Slusser, including Howard V. Hendrix, David Leiby, Bradford M. Lyau, and Daryl F.
He listed Isaac Asimov, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, James Blish, Ray Bradbury, David Brin, Robert Heinlein, Robert Silverberg, and Theodore Sturgeon alongside golden age authors J.-H. Rosny, Olaf Stapledon, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells as the best science fiction writers primarily because of their focus on science in their writings.
"[16] Although Slusser considered Robert A. Heinlein the "epitome of science fiction writers" his criticism of the author was far more pointed.
[20] In 2012, Slusser and his wife translated the works of J.-H. Rosny into Three Science Fiction Novellas: From Prehistory to the End of Mankind.