Capping a career of public service dedicated to law enforcement, Dr. Brown was elected Mayor of the City of Houston on December 6, 1997, sworn in on January 2, 1998; and re-elected in 1999 and again in 2001, serving the maximum of three terms in office. Prior to his election as Mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest city, Dr. Brown served in President Clinton’s Cabinet as Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 1993 to 1996.

Dr. Brown rose through the law enforcement ranks: first as a patrolman with the San Jose, California Police Department; then as a Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon; followed by Commissioner of Public Safety in Atlanta, Georgia; Chief of Police in Houston, Texas; and Police Commissioner for New York City, New York.

Dr. Brown has an undergraduate degree in criminology from Fresno State University, a master’s degree in sociology from San Jose State University and holds a master’s degree and doctorate degree in criminology from the University California at Berkeley, where he also is an UC Berkeley Fellow. He was selected as UC-Berkeley’s 2004 Alumnus of the Year. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Florida International University, Portland State University, State University of New York, Fresno State University, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Paul Quinn College and Howard University. He is an honorary visiting professor at four universities in China.

Dr. Brown also has been a part time Professor at San Jose State University; Professor and Chairman of the Department of Administration of Justice at Portland State University; Associate Director of the Institute for Urban Affairs and Research and Professor of Public Administration at Howard University; University Professor at Texas Southern University; and a Senior Scholar at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and Professor of Sociology at Rice University. After leaving the Office of the Mayor, he served as a Visiting Scholar in the School of Social Sciences at Rice University.

Dr. Brown is currently the Chairman and CEO of Brown Group International and Chairman of the Board of Unity National Bank. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Erin Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with a focus on finding and producing oil in sub-Saharan Africa.