History of the A. L. Brown Scholarship Fund

In the history of the New England Chapter, there was one man, in particular, who after his retirement, strove energetically to get young people involved in the physics and chemistry of fire. It was Arthur L. Brown who would visit the heads of architectural and engineering schools to arrange to talk to engineering students about careers in fire protection. Mr. Brown was particularly active and devoted to the Chapter's Education Committee and served on it for many years.

During a Board of Directors meeting of the New England Chapter, he suffered a heart attack and despite prompt efforts to assist him, he did not survive.

Mrs. Brown requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her husband's name to go towards education in the field of fire protection. As a result of Mrs. Brown's request, $181.00 was received. This became "seed" money as Rexford Wilson made the recommendation and the Chapter voted to establish a permanent fund in Mr. Brown's name for the promotion of fire protection education. The A. L. Brown Scholarship Fund was established in his name on November 24, 1969.

The first grant in the amount of $100 was awarded in April of 1975 to a WPI student.

Over the past 30 years, the principal of the A. L. Brown Scholarship Fund has grown to an amount in excess of $120,000.00, allowing the New England Chapter to award $5,000 to 16,000 annually.