Harriette Upham Brown

Born in 1934 at Fort Benning, GA, the daughter of an Army officer, Anne Brown, moved many times with her family, which provided her a broad perspective on humanity. She attended the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, while living in Denmark, and developed fluency in both French and German, prior to attending Wellesley College. She left Wellesley College in 1956, at the end of her junior year, to marry Frederic (Rick) Brown, the love of her life, and accompanied him on his various military assignments. During one of her husband’s tours of duty in Vietnam, she returned to Wellesley as one of the very first continuing education students and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with the Class of 1967. Her success, and others, laid the ground-work for Wellesley College’s Davis Scholar program.

The mother of three girls (Wellesley ’81, Smith ’82, and Smith ’85), Anne was an earlier believer in women’s rights. She infused “be all you can be” with each of her daughters. She was an active leader in Girls Scouts, Pony Club and 4H, guiding each daughter’s development of competence, confidence and discipline…resulting in their significant personal family and professional successes. Her love of travel, and willingness to share that love with her family, helped develop an understanding and appreciation of diversity. As an avid cyclist, she has bicycled thousands of miles in the US and Europe. As a climber and a hiker, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and numerous Colorado “Fourteeners.”

During her husband’s command assignments, Anne served as a Command Team Leader for over 14 years in Texas, Germany, Kentucky and Illinois. In recognition for her significant contributions to the Army, Anne received the Secretary of the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, the highest civilian award given by the U.S. Army, at her husband’s retirement ceremony. She was cited for “personal involvement and sincere commitment to myriad family-oriented programs [which] greatly enhanced the quality of life for soldiers, their families and civilians…. serving as a role model and mentor for other Army spouses in every facet of the military community.” During the Clinton administration, Anne worked in the Correspondence Office of Mrs. Clinton. Anne also served on the Board of Directors of the Bicycle Adventure Club and held multiple volunteer posts in other Bicycling organizations.