Theodore L. Brown

Theodore Lawrence Brown (October 15, 1928 – March 24, 2026) was an American scientist known for research, teaching, and writing in the field of physical inorganic chemistry, a university administrator, and a philosopher of science. In addition to his research publications, Brown has written textbooks on general chemistry and science communication which have been published in multiple languages and used in multiple countries. He was a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has also held the administrative positions of vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate college (1980–1986). He was the founding director emeritus of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. He died at home on March 24, 2026, after a brief illness.

Life and career Theodore L. Brown was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin October 15, 1928, to Lawrence A. Brown and Martha E. (Kedinger) Brown.

Brown then attended Michigan State University, where he worked with Max T. Rogers. He was a Du Pont Teaching Fellow, 1955–1956. He received his Ph.D. in 1956. His thesis, I. Solution Structures of Lithium Alkyl Compounds. II. Infrared Intensities of the OH Stretching Bond in Alcohols, identified two research areas that he would focus on early in his career.

He joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he became an assistant professor of chemistry in 1958, an associate professor in 1961, and a professor in 1965. Brown's book Bridging divides describes the development of the institute. Brown also served as a council member of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable during 1989–1994. He also co-chaired a National Academies committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research for the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (2003-2005). Imperfect Oracle: The Epistemic and Moral Authority of Science in Society, appeared in 2009.

Awards and honors Brown was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and a National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellow (1965) He was honored with the American Chemical Society Award for Research in Inorganic Chemistry in 1972, and with the American Chemical Society Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry in 1993. He was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1987 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. He was elected as a fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2010.