John Lott Brown, former USF president, dies at 86

The University’s third president, John Lott Brown, died in Ohio on Sunday according to the St. Petersburg Times. He was 86.

Brown was hired at USF in 1978 after directing the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester.   

He was acclaimed for pushing to improve the medical and engineering
 research field at USF, where he was president for 10 years.  

According to the Tampa Tribune, USF saw additional
 growth during his 10 years. The budget more than doubled to about $250 million and student enrollment reached 29,500, which made USF the second largest public university in Florida.

Brown left Tampa in 1994 to become interim president at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. He also joined the faculty of the University of Pennyslvania and Kansas State University.   

He is survived by his four children and six grandchildren.

— Staff Report