Harold Brown

Biography

Abstract

Harold Brown is a Columbia-educated scientist and former President of the California Institute of Technology (1969-1977). He is also a former U.S. Secretary of Defense (1977-1981) and former Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1960-1961). Other institutional affiliations include University of California at Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University.

Important Dates

September 19, 1927Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1945Obtained BA, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1946Obtained MA, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1947 – 1950Lecturer and Research Assistant, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1949Obtained PhD in Physics, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1949 – 1950Lecturer, Stevens Institute of Technology.

1950 – 1952Physicist, Radiation Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley.

1952 – 1961Physicist (1952-1953); Group Leader (1953-1955); Division Leader (1955-1958); Associate Director (1958-1959); Deputy Director (1959-1960); and Director (1960-1961), Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore (Calif.).

1956 – 1958Member, Polaris Steering Committee, United States Navy.

1956 – 1961Member, Scientific Advisory Board, United States Air Force.

1958Adviser to the United States Delegation, Conference of Experts on the Detection of Nuclear Weapons Tests, Geneva.

1958 – 1959Senior Scientific Adviser to the United States Delegation, Conference on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Weapons Tests.

1958 – 1961Member, Scientific Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense on Ballistic Missiles, United States Department of Defense.

1961Member, President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1961 – 1965Director of Defense Research and Engineering, United States Department of Defense.

1965 – 1969Secretary of the Air Force, United States Air Force.

1969 – 1976Member, General Advisory Committee, United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

1969 – 1977Delegate, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

1969 – 1977President, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1973 – 1976Member, Executive Committee, Trilateral Commission.

1974 – 1975Chair, Technology Assessment Advisory Council, Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress.

1977Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1977 – 1981Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense.

1981 – 1992Distiguished Visiting Professor, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (1981-1984) and Chair, Foreign Policy Institute, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (1984-1992), Johns Hopkins University, Washington (D.C.).

1983 – 1992Member, Board of Trustees, RAND Corporation.

1992Awarded Enrico Fermi Award, United States Department of Energy.

1992 – presentCounselor and Member, Board of Trustees, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington (D.C.).

January 4, 2019Death, Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.).

Occupation

Applied physicist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Graduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Employment

Livermore (Calif.)

Pasadena (Calif.)

Washington (D.C.)

Death

Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.)

Subjects

Applied physics and engineering.

Ballistic missile defenses -- United States.

Nuclear arms control.

Nuclear weapons.

Science and state.

Relationships

People

Family

Brown, A. H.

Father.

Brown, Gertrude Cohen

Mother.

Colleagues

Alder, B. J.

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Anderson, John D., 1930-

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bahcall, John N.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Batzel, Roger Elwood

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Boehm, Felix

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Booth, Eugene

Both employed at Columbia University.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Dashen, Roger F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Davis, Bergen, 1869-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Delbrück, Max

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DeWitt, Bryce S. (Bryce Seligman), 1923-2004

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975

Both employed at Columbia University.

Duwez, Pol

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Foley, Henry Michael, 1917-1982

Both employed at Columbia University.

Foster, John S., 1922-

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Fowler, William A.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Furth, H. P.

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Gell-Mann, Murray

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Giacconi, Riccardo

Both employed at Johns Hopkins University.

Goldhaber, Gerson

Both employed at Columbia University.

Gould, Roy W. (Roy Walter), 1927-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-2021

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Helmholz, August Carl, 1915-2003

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Holdren, John P.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Hughes, Vernon W.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Koonin, Steven E.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kroll, Norman Myles, 1922-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kryder, Mark H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kusch, Polykarp, 1911-1993

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Leighton, Robert B.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Liepmann, H. W. (Hans Wolfgang), 1914-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

May, Michael M., 1925-

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

McKee, Christopher, 1942-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Nierenberg, William Aaron, 1919-2000

Both employed at Columbia University.

Nuckolls, John Hopkin

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Oddone, Piermaria J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Politzer, H. David, 1949-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Post, Richard F.

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Prescott, Charles

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Press, Frank, 1924-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rainwater, L. James (Leo James), 1917-1986

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Columbia University.

Roshko, A. (Anatol)

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Ruderman, Malvin A.

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Sachs, Allan M. (Allan Maxwell), 1921-1989

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schwarz, John H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Sciulli, Frank J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Segrè, Emilio

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Teukolsky, Saul A. (Saul Arno), 1947-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Thomas, Llewellyn Hilleth, 1903-1992

Both employed at Columbia University.

Thorne, Kip S.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tollestrup, Alvin

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tsuei, Chang C.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Watson, Kenneth M.

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Will, Clifford M., 1946-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997

Both employed at Columbia University.

Wu, Theodore Y.-T. (Theodore Yao-tsu)

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Yariv, Amnon

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)

Both employed at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.

Zweig, George

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Additional

Ruina, J. P. (Jack P.)

Tombrello, Thomas A.

Institutions

Major Positions

California Institute of Technology

President.

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Obtained BA (1945), MA (1946), and PhD (1949). Lecturer and Research Assistant.

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Physicist.

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory

Physicist; Group Leader; Division Leader; Associate Director; Deputy Director; and Director (Livermore campus).

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Distiguished Visiting Professor and Chair, Foreign Policy Institute.

Stevens Institute of Technology

Lecturer.

United States. Air Force

Secretary of the Air Force and Member, Scientific Advisory Board.

United States. Department of Defense

Secretary of Defense; Director of Defense Research and Engineering; and Member, Scientific Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense on Ballistic Missiles.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.)

Counselor and Member, Board of Trustees.

Conference on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Weapon Tests (1958-1962 : Geneva, Switzerland)

Senior Scientific Adviser to the United States Delegation.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Rand Corporation

Member, Board of Trustees.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II

Delegate.

Trilateral Commission

Member, Executive Committee.

United States. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

Member, General Advisory Committee.

United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment

Chair, Technology Assessment Advisory Council.

United States. Department of Energy

Received 1992 Enrico Fermi Award.

United States. Navy

Member, Polaris Steering Committee.

United States. President's Science Advisory Committee

Member.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Harold Brown Oral History Interview - JFK #1, 7/9/1964.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125

Harold Brown papers, 1943-1977.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

International Science and Technology Journal interviews, 1962-1967.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Oral history interview with Herbert F. York, 1986 February 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Jack P. Ruina, 1991 August 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Thomas Tombrello, 2010 December 26-31.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Published Resources

Subject

Caltech article, "Caltech Mourns the Passing of Harold Brown."

Harold Brown, 14th Secretary of Defense. U. S. Department of Defense Profile