William Yancey Brown
Bill Brown is President and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences. The Academy was established in 1812. It is the oldest natural science research institution in the Americas, and is recognized internationally for its vast collections, research, exhibits, and educational programs. It is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization with an annual operating budget of approximately $13 million and about 235 staff. The Academy’s collection of over 17 million cataloged natural history specimens and artifacts is among the ten largest in the United States.
Dr. Brown served as President and CEO of the Bishop Museum in Hawaii from September 2001 until January 2007 when he moved to the Academy. Bishop Museum is the premier museum of culture and natural history for the Pacific Basin. During his tenure, the museum’s finances improved significantly, a 19,000 ft² Science Adventure Center was developed and opened, renovation of historic buildings was launched, and the board became majority Native Hawaiian.
From April 1997 until January 2001, Dr. Brown was Science Advisor to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. While there, Dr. Brown provided leadership on science and policy, specifically overseeing invasive species management, ocean and coral reef protection, biotechnology policy, amphibian conservation, fossil policy, and overall funding of science.
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.
Dr. Brown was born in Artesia, California, in 1948, and was 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 an NSF Fellow (PhD, 1973, Zoology), and Harvard Law School (JD, 1977).
From 1973 -74, he 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, Dr. 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. Dr. 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.
In 1985, Dr. 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. Dr. 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, before his appointment as the Science Advisor to Secretary Babbitt.
Dr. Brown is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society), Phi Sigma (The Biological Research Society), and the District of Columbia Bar. He is a member of the oversight committee for the Division on Earth and Life Studies of the National Academies, director of the Natural Science Collections Alliance, and a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. As the elected Chairman of the Global Heritage Fund, a non-profit organization which strives to preserve and restore globally significant cultural monuments throughout the world, Dr. Brown will assume his position in May 2008. Additionally, he is former Chairman of the Ocean Conservancy, and a former director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Environmental Law Institute, U.S. Environmental Training Institute, U.S. Committee for the United Nations Environment Programme, Audubon Naturalist Society, Historic Hawaii Foundation, and Harvard Environmental Law Society. He has served on numerous panels and advisory groups, including the Kamehameha Schools Advisory Board, National Research Council Committee on Science and the Endangered Species Act and the State Department Antarctic Advisory Committee. He has authored many publications. Dr. Brown is married to Mary McLeod and has two daughters, Julia and Emma Brown.