Barbara Elaine Russell Brown
Barbara Elaine Russell Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 14, 1929 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2019 (aged 89) |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois |
| Occupations | Zoologist; ornithologist |
| Employer | Field Museum of Natural History |
Barbara Elaine Russell Brown (February 14, 1929 – January 7, 2019) was an American biologist and philanthropist.
Early life
Brown was born Barbara Russell, on February 14, 1929 in Chicago; her parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Russia.[1] She graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor's degree in economics after initially attending Rockford College.[1][2]
Careers
Brown's career began as an assistant to the zoologist Philip Hershkovitz.[2] From 1974, she served the Women's Boards at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History for 47 years, moving to the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2010. Her research at the Field Museum was concentrated on mammalogy, with an emphasis in New World species.[1] Brown's research involved expeditions to the Cerrado savanna and to the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil,[2] and she authored an important treatise on marsupials. She was a skilled animal collector, with expertise in preparing specimens and setting traps.[2]
Personal life
In 1953, she married Roger Brown; they went on to have six children together.[1] She moved to Highland Park, IL shortly after marrying, where the couple purchased five acres of undeveloped orchard, woodland, and marsh within the suburb, later adding five more acres to accommodate their children and dogs.[1] Barbara enriched her community by joining the Highland Park Library Board, serving the city's Environmental Commission, as a guide at the Heller Nature Center, and by volunteering at elementary schools and extracurriculars.[1] For decades, she was the president of the North Shore Bird Club, and was an avid birder through the United States, Canada, Australia and Central America.[1]
Eponyms
Brown has had four new species named after her.[1][3] These include:
- Isothrix barbarabrownae – Barbara Brown's Brush-tailed Rat[4][5]
- Callicebus barbarabrownae – Barbara Brown's titi[5]
- Apomys brownorum – Mount Tapulao forest mouse[2]
- Vadaravis brownae – a Threskiornithidae-like fossil bird[2]
Philanthropy
With her husband Roger Brown, she has philanthropically supported the Field Museum, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Chicago Botanic Garden.[3] This endowment included the new post—the Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology—who directs the Science Museum of Minnesota's new ornithology department.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Barbara Brown Obituary - Skokie, IL | Chicago Tribune". Legacy.com. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Graydon, Megan (22 January 2019) [Originally published 15 January 2019]. "Barbara Brown, Field Museum research assistant on expeditions to far-flung locales, dies". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b O'Donnell, Maureen (11 January 2019). "Barbara Brown, Field Museum staffer, donor who had 4 species named for her, dies". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ bpatterson (23 February 2011). "Scientists discover striking new species of cloud-forest rodent in Peru". Field Museum. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b Beolens, Bo. (2009). The eponym dictionary of mammals. Watkins, Michael, 1940-, Grayson, Michael. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8018-9533-3. OCLC 593239356.
- ^ Woltman, Nick (17 May 2018). "$2 million donation is largest in Science Museum of Minnesota's history". TwinCities.com Pioneer Press. Retrieved 22 September 2025.