College of Fine Arts Alumnus Honored for Professional Achievements

An adjunct professor at Olivet University and a visual arts teacher at Baltimore City Public Schools, Milbert “Milt” Brown Jr., MA ’82, can vividly recall his journey to becoming one of the first Black photo editor at the Chicago Tribune. That journey didn’t begin on the bricks of Athens, however, but rather in elementary school.

“From the very beginning, I was very shy,” Brown says. “I just got into a new school, I was 7 years old in the second grade.” To help him build confidence, Brown’s teacher assigned him the role of “classroom reporter,” much to his delight. “I ran home, I told my mother that I wanted to go to college and become a reporter. And when my father came home from work, I told him, and that was the stimulating factor [that] made me want to be a reporter.”

Brown continued to expand his love for the field, writing throughout high school and eventually earning a scholarship to a summer workshop at Ball State University. There, Brown was introduced to photography, sparking his interest in visual arts and introducing him to one of his biggest inspirations: Gordon Parks, a staff photographer for LIFE magazine.

“He had a real fancy camera, [similar to one] that I had, and he was an African American,” Brown says. “Not only was he a good photographer, he was a good writer. I said, ‘I want to be like that guy, Gordon Parks,’ so I ran to the library and got his book, ‘A Choice of Weapons,’ and I read it.”

Brown earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University, then came to OHIO to pursue a master’s in photography and then a doctorate in education from Morgan State University. He says OHIO's reputation and strong staff, such as the late Charles “Chuck” Scott, MSJ ’70, made Athens stand out.

“If I had not accepted the Ohio University fellowship, I would have never accomplished my dreams; I would have never [gone] anywhere,” Brown says. “Ohio University had one of the best reputations for producing strong visual journalists. They were connected to a lot of places in the industry, and that was because of Chuck Scott. It was a national place to go.”

Through OHIO, Brown landed multiple internships—including with The Journal Herald in Dayton, Ohio, and The Washington Post—and traveled to other cities like Dallas, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky, for work. After graduating, he worked for two of the biggest publications in the nation: The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune, where he covered South Africa’s presidential elections and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela in the 1990s.

For that assignment, Brown was based in Johannesburg with two colleagues; there, he met with locals and developed his own stories outside of the inauguration. His time in South Africa allowed him to be multidimensional, combining his love for photography with reporting.

Now, Brown believes being a multidimensional journalist is crucial. His international work has given him the tenacity and motivation to pursue challenges, leading him to cover other major political events like 2008 Democratic National Convention. In 2001, Brown and his colleagues at the Chicago Tribune received a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their coverage of America’s complicated air traffic system.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Brown is being recognized again for his talent: He was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame last month. Brown sees this recognition as a testament to his love of storytelling.

“When you get an honorable award like that, it’s not a stamp of approval, but it’s a recognition that you've been working all your life and now someone recognizes you,” he says. “I’ve been working all my life, since the second grade … developing my whole life around telling stories. I’m a storyteller.”