Robert H. Brower

Robert H. Brower (March 23, 1923 – February 29, 1988) was a professor of Far East Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, chair of Far East Language and Literature at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1988.

Life as a student Professor Brower was born on March 23, 1923, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1944. He learned Japanese while serving with the armed forces in World War II, and received his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in 1947 and 1952, respectively.

Teaching He returned to Michigan in 1966 after teaching at the University of Minnesota and Stanford University. As the chairman of the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures from 1971 to 1981, he was instrumental in expanding Michigan's reputation as a major center for Japanese studies.

Brower joined the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan in 1966, and served as chairman of the department from 1971 through 1981. He served in the professorial ranks at Stanford University from 1954 through 1966, and in 1963–64 he served as director of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1951 through 1954. Brower was an internationally recognized authority on traditional Japanese literature, especially poetry. His book Japanese Court Poetry, written in collaboration with Earl Miner, was one of the first critical examinations in English of the poetry of the Japanese imperial court from the sixth through the 14th centuries, and was the seminal work in his specialty, classical poetry and poetics.

Death At the time of his death, Brower was at work on a series of translations of poetic treatises, which promised to reveal how Japanese poets regarded their own art.