Alan J. Brown honored with emeritus status
Alan J. Brown, professor of aerospace and ocean engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired faculty members who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
Brown began his distinguished career in the U.S. Navy as an engineering duty officer, a role he held from 1971-98. His Navy service included assignments aboard ships, with fleet staffs, in shipyards, and at key naval institutions such as the Naval Sea Systems Command, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and MIT. He also became a registered professional mechanical engineer in California.
He has earned broad acclaim as a naval engineering expert, contributing to a wide range of topics in over 70 published papers. His research focused on naval ship design, marine systems, survivability, and underwater explosion effects.
From 1993-97, Brown served as professor of naval architecture and director of the Naval Construction and Engineering Program at MIT, shaping the next generation of naval engineers. He joined the Virginia Tech community in 1998 as the NAVSEA Professor of Ship Design in the department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering.
He was instrumental in restructuring Virginia Tech’s undergraduate ship design course, one of the only two undergraduate programs in the United States to teach warship design, and created the only open submarine design course in the United States. He also helped develop Virginia Tech’s Naval Engineering Minor and Graduate Certificate programs.
Throughout his career, Brown has advised more than 50 graduate students, who now hold key positions in industry, academia, and the Naval Sea Systems Command. He held leadership positions in and was recognized with prestigious career awards by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and the American Society of Naval Engineers.
Brown received his bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering, a master’s degree in shipping and shipbuilding management and ocean engineering, and a doctoral degree in marine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Written by Emily Southern, a senior majoring in multimedia journalism and student writer for Virginia Tech Marketing and Communications
