Preceded by Helen B. Cassady Party Democratic Party Role Politician | Preceded by (new district) Name Torrey Brown Spouse(s) Donna Marx | |
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Residence Severna Park, Maryland, United States | ||
Succeeded by (none, redistricting) | ||
Torrey C. Brown (February 28, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was an American politician who served in the Maryland House of Delegates and was the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
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Background
Brown was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the University of Chicago High School. He earned a B.A. degree at Wheaton College in 1957 and then came to Baltimore to go to medical school. Brown received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1961. After completing his residency in internal medicine, Brown joined the Hopkins faculty. He was promoted to assistant dean of the School of Medicine and later rose to become the vice president of Johns Hopkins Hospital. He also served with the U.S. Public Health Service from 1963 to 1965.
In the Legislature
Brown was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1971 and represented Legislative District 39, in Baltimore City, until 1983. He was a member of the Environmental Matters Committee and became its chairman in 1979. In his first year in the legislature, one of his colleagues, Delegate Russell O. Hickman, suffered a heart attack during a debate. Brown and fellow physician Dr. Aris T. Allen, a state senator from Annapolis, were credited with saving his life.
As CEO
In 1998 Brown returned to his roots as a researcher. He co-founded a biotech firm called Intralytix Inc. He directed the company's effort to find useful applications for Bacteriophages or "phages". A phage is a virus that infects and devours bacteria. With more bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, Brown felt that the use of bacteria's naturally occurring enemy would ultimately surpass the use of lab-invented antibotics which over time become ineffective in their original doses. Brown wanted to adopt existing knowledge about phage therapies and use them in the United States.
Death
Brown died of heart disease on April 20, 2014, at the age of 77.
Legacy
On the day of his death, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley ordered Maryland flags be flown at half-staff. A hiking trail, the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail, that extends from Maryland into Pennsylvania, is named in his honor. In 2008, Brown received the Woodrow Wilson Award, an award given to Hopkins' alumni for distinguished public service, from the Johns Hopkins University alumni association.