Vern Alden '45 - Brown University Athletics

Vern Alden BrownBears.com will feature one former male and female student-athlete each month who has gone on to achieve success in the workplace, as well as exhibit the spirit of Brown University within the community. The monthly installments will provide highlights of the selectees’ athletic careers at Brown and offer a glimpse into their current career paths.

Alumni Spotlight – Vern Alden ’45

A successful businessman, scholar, and philanthropist, Vern Alden graduated from Brown in 1945 with a degree in English Literature. His noted passion for athletics, especially track and field, paved the way for his endowment of the Coaching Chair for Men’s and Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field, only the third endowed coaching position at the time. Alden was a distance runner on both the cross country and track and field teams at Brown.

After earning his MBA at Harvard Business School and serving a term as its Associate Dean, Alden, at 38 years old, became Ohio University’s 15^thPresident from 1962-69. Under his watch at Ohio, Alden saw the university’s enrollment and faculty double during that span, as well as a dedicated urban renewal effort that expanded the campus.

An advocate for the arts community, Alden is a Life Trustee of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Museum of Science, the Children’s Museum, and the French Library and Cultural Center in Boston. Three different Massachusetts governors appointed him Chairman of the Massachusetts Council on Arts and Humanities, as he helped state appropriations to the arts grow from $125,000 to over $18 million during a 12-year tenure.

Highly esteemed and regarded in Japan, Alden was the President or Chairman of the Japan Society of Boston for over forty years, served on several Japan-related advisory councils, and served two terms as Chairman of the National Organization of Japan-American Societies.

Alden’s affinity for philanthropy led to the establishment of endowed funds at Brown, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Science Museum, Ohio University, Ohio Wesleyan University, MIT, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Northfield Mount Hermon School, the Boston Public Library, and the French Library and Cultural Center in Boston. He was also a trustee and member of the Brown Corporation Board of Fellows.

Alumni and fans are encouraged to participate in the Alumni Spotlight nomination process by submitting nominees to athleticcommunication@brown.edu. Nominations should include: notable career achievements, current occupation, location, recent photos, and notable contributions to the community.