William Henry Brown

William Henry Brown died Monday, September 22, 2025, in Forest Hills, NY. He was 83 years old. His parents were William Ardell Brown and Sarah Jean Brown (Murphy), and he was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Bill graduated from Eastern District High School and Brooklyn College. While at Brooklyn College, Bill became president of the campus chapter of the Congress on Racial Equality, and he led an anti-segregation boycott of a White Castle restaurant.

Bill subsequently became a teacher and school administrator. He earned a Ph.D in Math Education from Yeshiva University. His Ph.D dissertation, entitled "Elementary School Peer Tutoring in Mathematical Verbal Problem Solving", demonstrated in a controlled study that students drawn from a school in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn who were tutored by their peers scored significantly higher on standardized tests.

Bill is survived by his son, Scott Brown, daughter, Melanie Brown, daughter-in-law, Rachel Stanton, Esq., his sister, Deborah E. Collins, Esq., his niece, Dr. Shai Brown Butler and her husband, Dr. Odo Naku Butler, his niece, Kechea Brown, grandniece Chantelle Brown and her husband, Lamarr Williams, grand-nephews, Koa and Nori Butler, and grandchildren, Emily and Miles Brown.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.