Dr. Charles S. Brown

Dr. Charles S. Brown pioneered optical fiber work, professor; 60 ATLANTA, Ga. Dr. Charles Stevenson Brown, departed this world on Saturday, September 29, 2007. He was born in Boston, Mass., on Aug. 5, 1947, to Master Sergeant Robert Brown and Corrie Lee Brown. He was educated in the Massachusetts school system and graduated from Ayer High School in 1966. Despite suffering from a chronic asthmatic condition, during high school Dr. Brown played football, basketball, ran track and set the school and state record for the 100 yard dash. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Morehouse College; his Masters of Science in Physics from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and his PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics in 1981. He won the Sigma Xi Award for the best masters' thesis and his dissertation was one of the first in the burgeoning Nano-science field. Dr. Brown was the first native-born African-American to receive a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Brown was employed by AT&T Bell Laboratories beginning in 1982. During his career there, he performed cutting-edge research in theoretical physics, applied physics, optical fiber telecommunications and other related engineering areas. He was considered one of the leading experts in the engineering field with over fifty scientific and technical publications. In 1993, he was awarded the Black Engineer of the Year Pioneer Award for both his training of young African-American and African scientists, and his contributions in science and technology. In 1994, he was promoted to Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Dr. Brown was a well-renowned professor who taught courses in engineering, mathematics, and physics at several universities in the greater Atlanta area. Between 1989 and 1992, he was an AT&T Visiting Lecturer at Clark Atlanta University and served as Professor and Department Chair in Physics.Dr. Brown traveled to Cape Coast, Ghana, where he worked as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (December 1995May 1996) and an ICTP Visiting Scholar, (June 1996 December 1996). During his tenure in Ghana, he helped develop the University's graduate curriculum; served as a research advisor for a physics doctoral candidate, and collaborated on a research paper with Prof. S. Y. Mensah, Chairman of the Physics Department and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University. Until his passing, Dr. Brown was the Acting Chair of the Department of Physics at Morehouse College and was instrumental in establishing an exchange program between Morehouse College and two universities in Ghana, West Africa. He was enstooled as a traditional ruler in the Assin Manso district of Ghana and to elders and other traditional rulers in the district, he was known as Nana Kwodo Amoah I. In 1984, he founded Obatron International Ltd., a telecommunications consulting firm. In 1998, he was invited by the President of Botswana to give a speech in South Africa on physics in general and on the notion of bridging the gap between Africans and African-Americans in particular. The pinnacle of his career occurred in 1997 when he published his fiftieth academic paper; a paper that ultimately led to the application and grant for a US patent for single mode optical fiber for high capacity undersea applications (USA Pat. #6317549). Dr. Brown was predeceased in death by his parents and a son, Obadiah Lee Brown. His wife, Juanita Brown; his mother-in-law, Mary N. Robinson; four brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law; four children, Dr. Darryl Lee Brown, Benin Woods Brown, Arleda Vivian Brown, and Kayla Oni Brown; two daughters-in-law, Ester Brown and Janice Louise Brown; six grandchildren, Alexis Jahann Brown, Darryl Lee Brown II, Meaghan Alexandra Brown and Obadiah Clark Brown, Iman Demetrius Lawson, Tana Muthoni Brown; one brother Robert Woods Brown, two sisters, Lynn Whitfield and Carolyn Morgan; 10 nieces and nephews; and a host of relatives, colleagues and friends, survive him. The people in many nations all over the world are able to communicate by voice, download videos and send music files with light speed because of the pioneering optical fiber work of Dr. Charles Stevenson Brown. His constant message to his children and grandchildren was to always do your best and to remain "strong, good and smart." BROWN Visitation will be on Friday, October 5, 2007 from 9 am until 8 pm at the Gregory B. Levett Funeral Home, 4347 Flat Shoals Pkwy, Decatur, GA. The family will receive relatives and friends from 5 pm until 8 pm. Funeral services for Dr. Brown will be held on Saturday, October 6, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. at the Martin Luther King International Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College. Interment will be at Hillandale Cemetery in Lithonia, Georgia. NSBP can start accepting donations to a designated and restricted fund now. Online it can be done at http://www.nsbp.org/en/donations/add.asp. In the comments section please put in Charles S. Brown Memorial Fund. Checks can be made payable to the "National Society of Black Physicists" and mailed to 6704 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22205. In memo line please put Charles S. Brown Memorial Fund.