JU Davis College of Business

Brown Joins Davis College of Business as Executive-in-Residence

11/24/09

Alvin Brown, Executive-in-Residence

Jacksonville, Fla.—Alvin Brown, the president and CEO of the Willie Gary Classic Foundation, has joined Jacksonville University’s Davis College of Business (DCOB) as Executive-in-Residence.

“There is tremendous interest about the role of government and how public and private sectors must interact synergistically to solve big issues,” said Dr. Joseph McCann, dean of DCOB.  “As a Davis College Executive-in-Residence, Alvin has the credentials and skills to help us develop a focus and external presence in that domain – exploring how the two sectors can best work together.”

“Alvin’s capabilities and acumen are a great fit for us,” said Dr. Donald Horner, director of the Davis Leadership Center.  “Alvin’s depth of experience in public-private sector linkages will add real value in developing workshops and seminars using influential public and private sector leaders to whom he has access.  In addition, he will also teach and explore program opportunities regarding public/private sector policy leadership.”

Through the Willie Gary Classic Foundation, Brown helps provide scholarships for historic black colleges. Through a partnership with the Martin Luther King Center, he created an academic essay challenge which annually sends students, teachers and parents to Atlanta to observe the Martin Luther King holiday and learn about civil rights.

Brown served as the executive director of the Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund’s Interfaith Fund and served as a senior member of the Clinton-Gore Administration. As Vice President Al Gore’s Senior Advisor for Urban Policy and Vice Chair of the White House Community Empowerment Board, Brown advised both Gore and President Clinton on a wide range of domestic issues. Brown led the Clinton-Gore Administration’s $4 billion overall community empowerment initiatives, with a special emphasis on the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community program which included the new market tax credit initiatives, leveraging that to $10 million for private sector investments.

Brown was also co-chair of the White House Task Force on Livable Communities focusing on urban sprawl and smart growth prior to his work at the White House. He held a number of other key positions, including Senior Advisor to the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Senior Advisor to former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo.
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“As an alumnus, a trustee and a successful businessman, Alvin has always expressed a desire to give back to the students of Jacksonville University and this appointment puts him face-to-face with them so they may learn from his vast experience,” said President Kerry Romesburg.

Brown graduated from JU with a bachelor of science and a master of business administration. He has also completed post graduate work at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and received an honorary doctorate from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Fla.  He has served on the JU Board of Trustees and on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Brown and his wife, Santhea, reside in Jacksonville with their two sons, Joshua and Jordan.