July 29, 2013
Brown Capital Management Founder & Wife Make History With Honorary Johns Hopkins University Degrees
In recognition of their philanthropic leadership spanning nearly two decades, Eddie C. Brown, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Brown Capital Management, and his wife, C. Sylvia Brown, have been awarded Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from The Johns Hopkins University.
The degrees were bestowed during the University’s Commencement ceremony on May 23, 2013. It is believed to be the first time in its history that Johns Hopkins has awarded honorary degrees jointly to a couple.
Brown Capital Management is the second oldest African-American investment management firm in the United States. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in business, Brown Capital Management is a 100% employee-owned firm that manages a variety of equity and balanced accounts for institutional and individual clients spanning the globe.
The Brown’s charitable foundation (C. Sylvia and Eddie C. Brown Family Foundation) was established in 1996. Since then, the Foundation has granted millions of dollars in gifts to such Baltimore-based institutions as the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), the Turning the Corner Achievement Program (TCAP), the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Brown Scholars, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.
Commenting on the award, Eddie Brown said, “Sylvia and I are honored and thrilled to receive this extraordinary recognition from one of the world’s prestigious universities. As a global leader for discovery and learning, Johns Hopkins reflects our own passions for educational innovation and outreach to those in need.” Previously, Mr. Brown has received honorary degrees from McDaniel College and from Morgan State University.
“Eddie and I have been passionate about education for most of our lives,” said Sylvia Brown. “The awarding of these degrees is a great validation of our work in supporting educational initiatives.”
The honorary degrees from Johns Hopkins are just the most recent acknowledgement of the Brown’s civic and philanthropic efforts. In 2011, the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS) named the Brown’s as the society’s “Marylanders of the Year,” an award whose past recipients have included Ben Bradlee, Tom Clancy and Sargent Shriver. During the awards ceremony, Burt Kummerow, MdHS President, said, “Eddie and Sylvia have generated spectacular dividends for impoverished inner-city residents and leveled playing fields across the country in the realms of education, healthcare and art.”