SLU Public Information
LOOKING BACK
Bob Brown: amicable, durable,
versatile
by Vic Couvillion
Three words sum up
Robert C. Brown's distinguished career at Southeastern: durability, versatility and
amicability.
"Durability" because Dr. Brown, professor of mathematics and department head emeritus, has
been teaching at the university for 46 consecutive years, an unofficial record; "versatility"
because of
his wide and varied talents, and "amicability" because of his sunny, positive demeanor.
Outside the classroom, Bob Brown chaired the Athletic Committee for 10 years; played violin
and French horn in numerous bands and orchestras; was (and remains) the basketball clock
operator;
and made himself a readily recognizable campus "character" with his seemingly ceaseless
jogging.
When he first set foot on the campus in September 1950, Southeastern was a new and very
different place for the young Freeport, Illinois, native who had recently graduated from
Vanderbilt
University. The Southeastern Brown discovered in 1950 had an enrollment of about 1,100 and a
faculty of less than 100. He recalls that a road still ran through what is the Music
Building/Student
Union area, the cafeteria and other university venues were in wooden frame buildings, and that
Friendship Circle had not yet been defined as such.
And Brown especially remembers today's Intramural and Recreation Center, known with
affection by veteran Southeastern family members as the Old Men's Gym. He saw his first
Southeastern basketball game there and cheered on the great teams coached by Luther Marlar.
Brown
also learned how to operate the game clock in that old building and has been running the game
clock
ever since.
Dr. Brown also discovered a special interest in varsity athletics and a kinship with the young
athletes. Ned McGehee, Southeastern's legendary athletic director, invited Brown to be faculty
sponsor
of the "S" Club. Brown agreed and began his many, many years of close associate with the
university's
athletes.
Brown, who is an honorary member of the Athletic Hall of Fame, was then asked by President
Clea E. Parker to head the university's Athletic Committee, a group charged with managing the
university's varsity teams during a time marked by the arrival of women's varsity athletics,
integration,
and realignment of conferences and NCAA divisions.
About the coming of women's varsity sports, Brown noted, "We made a smooth transition and
those first Lady Lion basketball teams with Pam Cook, Monica Smith, Queen Brumfield and
others
were winners. They earned acceptance."
Any talk of Brown and athletics must include's Brown's own pursuit of physical fitness--an
obsession of many years. He came to jogging through watching his son, Robert Jr., run track for
Southeastern High School. "After a while, I decided to start running myself...to get into the
action
instead of just watching it," he explained.
Brown's other great avocation is music. He has played the violin since grade school and
learned the French horn in high school. Brown has made music with Southeastern's orchestra for
many
years, has been a part of special ensembles for musicals and other presentations, and now plays
with
two groups, the Musicum Jazz Antiqua and the Tangi Tones.
Despite the joy that athletics and music have brought to Brown's life, academics was always
his first concern. Though officially "retired" from the faculty since 1984, he has continued to
teach
"part-time."
"I have always allowed the students to evaluate me, and I am happy to say that most of them
label me a good teacher," Brown said.
And what of the future? Brown, now 75, says emphatically, "I don't anticipate slowing down
anytime soon. The Musicum Jazz Antiqua plays all over south Louisiana and the Tangi Tones
play all
the time, too. I enjoy bringing music to others. I'm going to keep working out, even though I can't
run
as much as I used to because of problems with my back. I have many things to keep me
busy."
And, he has more time now to spend with his wife, Libby, children, grandchildren and one
great grandchild. His daughters Carol Yokum and Elizabeth "Betsy" Sylvest, and his son, still
command much of his attention.
But whatever the future holds, Brown will continue to bring to his life, and to those around
him, that well-rounded, durable love of life that has marked him as one of Southeastern's unique
and
special treasures.
Vic Couvillion is director of Student
Publications.
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