Roland Peter Brown

Roland Peter Brown (5 June 1926 – 16 August 2019) was an American physician who spent the majority of his career in Taiwan.

Life and career Roland Peter Brown was born in Hebei, Republic of China, on 5 June 1926, where his father, a Mennonite religious leader and physician, was based. When his parents, Henry and Maria Brown, were taken as prisoners of war in 1941, in the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Brown was sent to North Newton, Kansas, to live with relatives. He settled in Hualien City, Taiwan, in 1953, and became a founding member of the first Mountain Tour Medical Team, which sought to reach patients in remote areas of Taiwan. The hospital began with 35 beds and charged indigenous and disadvantaged people NT$1 per visit during the first eight years of its operation. While Brown worked at the Mennonite Christian Hospital, he was never paid a salary. Brown retired from his administrative position at Mennonite Christian Hospital in 1990,

Legacy In 1991, the Taiwanese American Foundation honored Brown with its Social Service and Science Award. President of the Republic of China Lee Teng-hui bestowed upon Brown the Order of Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon, and Brown received several other prizes for his work in Taiwan.

Brown spent his retirement years in North Newton, Kansas, with his wife Sophie, who died in 2010. The art piece took form as a metal tree by Liu Po-chun, which featured the name of Gian Carlo Michelini, among others. In 2017, Roland Brown published the memoir Healing Hands: Four Decades of Relief and Mission in Taiwan. He died in Newton, Kansas, on 16 August 2019, aged 93.