Prof. Johnny Brown Recognized with Dreamer Award

01-20-2016

On January 19, Johnny Brown, professor of mathematics, was recognized with the 2015 Purdue Dreamer Award along with Jerry Holt, associate professor of English and chair of the English and Modern Language Department at Purdue North Central.

Johnny Brown

The Dreamer Award is presented annually to an individual or organization within the Purdue University community whose contributions embody Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision of service to others and furthers the University's commitment to diversity and inclusion.  Nominations are solicited each year of all members of the Purdue community - including retirees and alumni who embody this vision.

The award ceremony also included the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative lecture by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Baltimore, Maryland. The ceremony is part of Purdue's annual celebration of the life and legacy of the civil rights leader.

"Drs. Brown and Holt both demonstrate the qualities of the 'fierce urgency of now,' " said Carol E. Johnson, director of the Diversity Resource Office at Purdue. "They have both shown an active commitment to social responsibility that mirrors Dr. King's vision of service to others and a society marked by equality for everybody."

Brown joined Purdue in 1979 as an assistant professor of mathematics and became a full professor in 1990. His research area is complex analysis and extremal problems. He has received the Harold T. Amrine Visionary Award, the Charles B. Murphy Award, Top Ten Outstanding Teacher of Undergraduates Award and the Black Graduate Students Association Distinguished Service Award. He also was inducted into the Purdue Book of Great Teachers in 2002. Brown has served as associate head of the Department of Mathematics and was head of the department's graduate committee for over nine years.

Brown also has been a member of the Hanna Community Center and has been a member of the Purdue Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff.