Donald Brown, who served as director of the Office of African, Hispanic Asian, and Native American (AHANA) Student Programs at Boston College for 27 years, died on April 2. He was 75 years old.
Dr. Brown earned a doctorate in educational policy, planning, research, and administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He began his career in higher education as director of Upward Bound at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 1978, Dr. Brown came to Boston College as director of what was then the Office of Minority Student Programs. He changed the office’s name to incorporate “AHANA.”
In 2007, the University established the Dr. Donald Brown Award, presented annually to a senior who, throughout his or her undergraduate career, has made extraordinary contributions to the Boston College community in ways that have benefited AHANA students in the areas of leadership, service, and academic development.
AHANA Alumni Advisory Council Chair Robert Marshall stated that Dr. Brown “embodied what it truly means to be a person for others. Undoubtedly, his work was a calling, a mission, and a pursuit led by his abiding faith. All of us stand on his shoulders given the decades he spent advocating for members of the AHANA community.”
Dr. Brown retired from Boston College in 2005. He later founded his own educational consulting firm in California.
