About
Dr. Milbert O. Brown, Jr., is a remarkable storyteller. During his stellar career, Brown was awarded the 2001 “Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Explanatory Reporting” as a contributing Chicago Tribune team member. The Pulitzer Prize-winner served as a photojournalist and visual editor at two of the nation's top newspapers, the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune. Since departing from the newspaper industry, Brown has continued to capture Black communities' historical and cultural tapestry and people using his gifts as an artist, photographer, and writer. Today, he combines his talents in producing independent creative projects as the principal consultant of Brown Images. Dr. Brown is also an instructor in the Public Affairs & Communication Strategy Directorate at Ft. Meade's Defense Information School. The Indiana native graduated from Morgan State University with a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership. Dr. Brown also earned a Master of Arts degree from Ohio University's prestigious School of Visual Communication and a B.S. in Journalism from Ball State University. REPORTING During Brown’s reporting journey, he covered South Africa’s first free election and was a member of the Foreign Correspondents Association. Later, he was selected by a joint National Association of Black Journalists and the United Nations committee to cover Liberia's elections as a United Nations Overseas Reporting Fellow. As the Editor Emeritus, Dr. Brown served as the International Editor of The Oracle Magazine, the official membership publication for Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He coordinated and edited articles/ pictures from 750 chapters located throughout the United States, Africa, England, Germany, and Japan. Dr. Brown also wrote membership profiles and implemented the publication's new page design. He has also performed duties as a public affairs specialist for several informational agencies, and he gained experience in radio news reporting. INSTRUCTION Dr. Brown’s past academic appointments have included teaching design, media history, multimedia reporting, photography and photojournalism courses. He has taught online and face-to-face curriculums at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Howard University, Loyola University-Chicago, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Washington Adventist University, and Wilberforce University. The International Center For Journalists (ICFJ) awarded Brown, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Faculty Fellowship in 2015. As an ICFJ-HBCU Faculty Fellow, Brown observed the digital newsroom operations of BuzzFeed, ProPublica, and WNYC Radio, producing multimedia projects in New York City. In 2016, Dr. Brown, then a Howard University journalism professor, launched the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Student Chapter, becoming the first student chapter established at an HBCU. The national organization said the chapter is "a testament to NPPA's commitment to promoting diversity in the organization and industry. Because of the chapter’s outstanding work, they were named the " NPPA Student Chapter of the Year." COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Brown's consistent effort to increase positive storytelling images in underserved Black communities includes his founding of a Black photography organization, the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers. In 1999, Brown conceptualized that the group's sole mission would be to launch a project that would photographically document the Black community at the beginning of the 21st century. In Vibe Magazine's March 2001 issue, the editors said: "Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks … provided a considerable amount of her poetry depicting the life and times of black people in Chicago. Milbert O. Brown, Jr., a staff photojournalist at the Chicago Tribune, spearheaded the formation of the Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers, and he did for the Windy City with cameras what Brooks had done with poetry." |