Richard P. Brown Jr. ’42

A man remembered as much for his acts of kindness as his stellar legal career and enduring support of the city of Philadelphia, Richard died May 29, 2017 — Memorial Day — at his home in Chestnut Hill. He was 96.

He graduated from Penn Charter in 1938 as valedictorian, and Princeton in 1942. He became a Naval officer in World War II, enduring brutal engagements in the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and he received a Bronze Star in 1945.

After the war, he studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, was managing editor of the Law Review, and graduated in 1948. Richard joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, first as an associate, then as a partner, where he chaired the litigation section and oversaw the modern transformation of the firm as leader of its long-range planning subcommittee. He served as chair of the international law section of the American Bar Association and was a member of the bar of the Supreme Court.

Possessed of a courtly grace, diplomatic skill, and keen wish to understand others, Richard was an early adapter of every trend. When the U.S. opened to China in 1974, he led the region’s first trip to Communist China. When the iPhone came out, it not only lived in his breast pocket — he mastered all of its features, and even taught others how to use it.

Uniquely non-judgmental in his board work with Penn Charter, WHYY, the University of Pennsylvania, the International Visitors Center, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Eisenhower Fellowships, the International House Center, and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, his advancement of talented thinkers, women, internationalists, and minorities in the public, private, board, and nonprofit sectors meant that he was forever a man of our time and a force for good in his city.