Barbara Elaine Russell Brown

Barbara Elaine Russell Brown (February 14, 1929 - January 7, 2019) was an American biologist and philanthropist.

Barbara Elaine Russell Brown
Born14 February 1929
Chicago
Died7 January 2019
Alma materUniversity of Illinois
OccupationZoologist; ornithologist
EmployerField Museum of Natural History

Early life

Brown was born Barbara Russell, on 14 February 1929 in Chicago; her parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Russia.[1] She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in Economics.[1][2] In 1953, she married Roger Brown; they went on to have six children together.[1]

Career

For 47 years, she worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Her career began as an assistant to the zoologist Philip Hershkovitz.[2] Her field research included expeditions to the Cerrado savanna and to the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil.[2] She was a skilled animal collector, with expertise in preparing specimens and setting traps.[2]

Eponyms

Range of Barbara Brown's Titi
Echimyidae phylogeny - including isothrix barbarabrownaea

Brown has had 4 new species named after her.[3][1] These include:

Philanthropy

With her husband Roger Brown, she has philanthropically supported the Field Museum, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Chicago Botanic Garden.[3] This endowment included the new post - the Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology - who directs the Science Museum of Minnesota’s new ornithology department.[6]

References


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