Scope and Contents
This collection contains the professional papers of Dr. Lee P. Brown. The papers reflect his professional career as Mayor of Houston (1998-2004), Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (1993-1995), New York City Police Commissioner (1990-1992), Police Chief of Houston, Texas (1982-1990), and as Public Safety Commissioner of Atlanta, Georgia (1978-1982). Brown also served at Rice University as Herbert Autrey Visiting Scholar at the School of Social Sciences, Radaslav A. Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs in the Department of Sociology, and as a scholar at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Also included in the collection are newsclips, photographs, awards and honors.
Access Restrictions
This material is open for research. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.
Restricted items in this collection are marked in the inventory. To obtain permission, please contact Dr. Lee P. Brown.
Biographical Note
Dr. Lee Patrick Brown was born in the small town of Wewoka, Oklahoma on October 4, 1937. When Dr. Brown was five years old, he and his family, including six brothers, moved to California. As a high school athlete, Dr. Brown earned a scholarship to play football for Fresno State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology. He then went on to earn a Masters in Sociology from San Jose State University in 1964, a Masters in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968, and a Doctorate in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970.
Dr. Brown began his prominent career in law enforcement in 1960 as a patrolman in San Jose, California. After eight years in that capacity, he moved to Portland, Oregon and established the Department of Administration of Justice at Portland State University. In 1972, he joined Howard University in Washington, D.C., becoming Associate Director of the Institute for Urban Affairs and Research. He held the academic rank of Professor of Public Administration and Director of Criminal Justice Programs. He then returned to Portland in 1975 to serve as sheriff of Multnomah County. In 1976, he was appointed Director of Justice Services, a department comprised of all the county’s criminal justice agencies. Dr. Brown has also served as New York City Police Commissioner from 1990-92, as Police Chief of Houston, Texas from 1982-90, and also as Public Safety Commissioner of Atlanta, Georgia from 1978-82.
In June 1993, Dr. Brown was unanimously confirmed as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) during the Clinton Presidency. He served in that Cabinet-level position as the “Drug Czar” from 1993 until January 1996. Following his service in the ONDCP, Dr. Brown joined the Faculty at Rice University as a Radoslav A. Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs in the Department of Sociology as well as a Scholar in the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Prior to his service in the ONDCP, Dr. Brown also served as a Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern University and Director of the University’s Black Male Initiative Program.
In 1997, Dr. Brown became the first African American to ever be elected as Mayor of the City of Houston. He served consecutive terms from 1998-2004, and presided over a very prosperous six-year period in Houston’s history. Under his leadership, the City of Houston invested in extensive infrastructure, advanced its affirmative action program, installed programs in City libraries to provide access to the Internet; built the state-of-the-art Houston Emergency Communications Center; implemented e-government, and opened new parks. In 2005, Dr. Brown became Chairman and CEO of Brown Group International, a consulting corporation.
The recipient of numerous awards over the years, Dr. Brown was named Father of the Year by the National Father’s Day Committee in 1991, and in 1992 he was awarded the Cartier Pasha Award by Cartier, International. He was also inducted into the national Forum for Black Public Administrators Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Gallup Hall of Fame by Gallup, Inc. in 1993. Dr. Brown was also named to Who’s Who in America in 2004. The author of many papers and articles on police management, community policing, crime, the criminal justice system and narcotics, Dr. Brown is also co-author of the book Police and Society: An Environment for Collaboration and Confrontation. He is also a past President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is involved in a number of professional and community organizations.
