Washington Semester Dean David Brown will step down from his position at the end of the academic year.
Brown is not permanently leaving the University. He will still serve as an adviser within the program, where he will have more time to reach out to students directly.
“I won’t be coming into this big office anymore now, but rather a cubicle down the hall,” he said.
Brown said he has accomplished everything he ever thought of and much more.
“I’ve done just about everything I can do to run and develop a great program here in our nation’s capital,” he said.
Brown has been at AU since 1971, when he started off as a professor in the School of Public Affairs. During that time, he also began teaching in the Washington Semester Program, and soon became the program’s dean. He also was in charge of the World Capitals program, now known as AU Abroad, until 2003.
During Brown’s tenure, the number of students who come from colleges across the country to experience D.C. for a semester has increased.
In the beginning, there were about 90 students per semester. Now, there are over 350 students from across the globe in the program.
“It’s a rare job at any institution to have the freedom to conceptualize, create, market, implement and advise a series of new, exciting programs,” he said.
As dean, Brown would also travel the country and some parts of the world, where he would go to different colleges and market the program. Brown said he now looks forward to spending more time at home.
“Part of my decision to retire rests on the fact that I just want to spend more time with my family,” he said. “I want to see my granddaughters grow up. For 40 years, I’ve been constantly traveling and I think now is the time to put that to a close.”
Brown’s replacement, Donna Fish, will take over in the summer.
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