HOWARD R. BROWN, M.D., Honorary 1958

At the end of my third year of Medical School, I developed a pleural effusion and a tine test conversion. Dean Hubbard in consultation with Chest specialist Dr Julia Jones, thought it best for me to be treated @ Ray Brook in Saranac Lake and take a year off from studies. I had a good year. I learned how to ski and do the NYTIMES crossword puzzles. I married my college sweetheart Gwendolyn Powell in 1958. I completed my medical studies with the class of ’59. I did my internship, as residency and Chief Residency at Bellevue on the NYU Third Medical Division.

I opened a private practice in the FPO suites and became a staff physician at Queens College and The New York Times. I became involved in Occupational Medicine Organizations, Newspaper Trade Associations and NYUSOM committee’s and Alumni Affairs.

After the assassination of Dr. Martin L. King, in April 1968, I became involved with the consortium of Medical Schools that hoped to improve the recruitment of Minority Students to area medical schools and especially NYU. I did this as a member of the Admissions Committee. The record will show that we improved our admissions diversity starting in 1970.

In 1972, I was named Medical Director of The New York Times and left private practice and Queens College. The 70’s was my preparatory period to set the stage for the 80’s. The 80’s was a decade of extreme highs and lows. It started with the death of my Brother Gerry, who was at the top of his career in NYC Correction Dept as the Chief of Operations, with an astrocytoma. In 1984, I was invited by Abe Rosenthal, the Managing Editor of the NYT, to accompany the news room staff, while they covered the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, and take care of any medical needs that might occur. It was interesting to meet the political candidates of the day, notably Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson.

In 1986, my wife expired suddenly and unexpectedly from a pulmonary embolus. This devastated my children and me. I had just become president of The New York Occupational Medical Association, president of Medical Executives (Corporate Medical Directors in the metro area) and Chair of the Environmental Committee of ANPA (American Newspaper Publishers Assoc). The hot button issue of the day was hazards of VDT usage in causing miscarriages, cataracts, eye strain, and repetitive stress injuries. In May 1987, the ANPA’S 100th Convention was held in NYC. President Reagan addressed the Convention on Ellis Island on the first day. The 101st Convention was held in Honolulu in 1988, and Arthur Sulzberger, chairman and Publisher of the NYT was installed as Chairman of ANPA. Needless to say I was there. In 1988, I was elected President of the NYUSOM Alumni Association, for a one year term. That year, we saw the expansion of the Board of Governors, to include Regional members from Northern and Southern California, Florida, Massachusetts and Washington D.C.

I remarried in 1989. We traveled extensively throughout the USA, mainly through my affiliations with Occupational Medical Associations, ANPA & NYTIMES activities and family Reunions. I retired in 1998 and moved to Southern Virginia in a Gate-Guarded community in a college town. The Community consisted mainly of young retirees from the Northeast and resembled a college campus with social and educational exposures. It resembled my concept of Utopia. Then suddenly and without warning in 2000, my wife announced she was getting a divorce. She had a ten year plan, and was a year late. I now had the life changing experience of both a death and a divorce of a spouse.

My marriage to Gwen, produced three children. Christopher is married to Rhonda and has two Children, Kendall (9 yrs) and Hudson (6 Wks), and lives in Manhattan. Clifford is married to Nancy and has two boys, Griffin (9yrs) and Jeremy (6yrs) and lives in New Rochelle. My daughter Catherine lives in Maryland and teaches in D.C.

My retirement activities involve trying to stay up to date on modern technology and getting the latest hardware and software to digitize my files, slides, pictures, videos and LP’S. I was happy to see Apple come out with an OS (Leopard) that can run Windows (Vista) through its boot camp software. This has made my life much easier and enjoyable.

I look forward to our 50th Reunion and providing the class with a pictorial digital record of the event.