William Yancey Brown

Biography

Brown was born in Artesia, California, in 1948, and graduated from high school in Brazil at the Escola Americana do Recife. He later graduated from the University of Virginia (BA 1969, Biology, with highest distinction), Johns Hopkins University (MAT, 1970), the University of Hawaii where he was a NSF Fellow (PhD, 1973, Zoology), and Harvard Law School (JD, 1977).

Professional life

From 1973-74, Brown was Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. During law school, he held summer and consulting positions with the Environmental Protection Agency (1974), Council on Environmental Quality (1975), and the Department of the Interior (1976–77).

In 1977, Brown was appointed Executive Secretary of the U.S. Endangered Species Scientific Authority, overseeing treaty commitments for wildlife trade. In 1980, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the International Convention Advisory Commission, with similar responsibilities. Brown left government in 1981 with change in administration, joining the Environmental Defense Fund where he served as Senior Scientist and Attorney and Acting Executive Director until 1985. He played a key role in developing and protecting from repeal key provisions of the Endangered Species Act.

In 1985, Brown joined Waste Management, Inc. and was Vice President for Environmental Planning and Programs and the first Chairman of the firm's Executive Environmental Committee. Brown left WMI in October 1994 and worked as a consultant, first with Hagler Bailly Consulting as a Principal and later with the World Wildlife Fund as a Senior Fellow.

William Brown served with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt as Science Advisor from April 1997 until January 2001. There, he advocated, wrote and negotiated executive orders for coral reef protection and invasive species management issued by President William Clinton and orders of Secretary Bruce Babbitt establishing marine national wildlife refuges for Navassa Island off Haiti and Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef south of Hawaii.

On leaving government with a change in administration, he served as Vice President for Oceans and Science Policy at the National Audubon Society before being recruited by the Bishop Museum, where he served as President and CEO from October 2001 to January 2007. He is credited with stabilizing the museum both financially and politically, improving attendance and successfully undertaking several expansions and renovations. He served as President and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences from February 2007 to January 2010. He served as President and CEO of the Woods Hole Research Center from February 2010 to January 2011. He was a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution from June 2011 until November 2013, when he was appointed the Chief Environmental Officer of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Affiliations

William Brown is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Phi Sigma, and a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He is a former member of the oversight advisory committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies of the National Academies. He is a former President and director of the Natural Science Collections Alliance and a former Chairman and director of the Global Heritage Fund and of the Ocean Conservancy. He is a former director of various other boards, including the Wistar Institute, Environmental Law Institute, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, U.S. Environmental Training Institute, Audubon Naturalist Society, Friends of the United Nations Environmental Programme, and the Harvard Environmental Law Society. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Selected non-fiction published works