Robert J. Brown

Robert J. (Bob) Brown is Chairman and CEO of B&C Associates, Inc., a management consulting, marketing research and public relations firm, with a roster of Fortune 500 clients including the Coca-Cola Company, Sara Lee Corporation, General Motors, Office Depot and Nissan Corporation. It is the oldest African-American owned public relations firm in the United States.

The great-grandson of a slave, Brown, was born in High Point, North Carolina. In his youth, Brown attended the Baldwin Chapel Church School before going on to graduate from William Penn High School. In 1956, he became a police officer in High Point and trained under O. H. Leak, a well-known African American police officer. A few years later in 1960, Brown started B&C Associates.

Mr. Brown served as Special Assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973 and directed the administration’s creation of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise and successfully develop and expand minority enterprise.

Mr. Brown served as a director of Wachovia Corporation from 1993 until 2007, Sonoco Products Company from 1993 until 2007, and Duke Energy Corporation, an electric power company, from 1994 until 2005.

In 1993, Mr. Brown founded the South African Booksmart Foundation. Since its inception, the Booksmart Foundation has shipped nearly two million books to South Africa. In recent years, Brown has been the recipient of the Horatio B. Alger Award. Brown currently serves on the board of trustees of the Rosetta C. Baldwin Museum.

He resides in High Point, North Carolina.