Dr. Roy Edward Brown was born on May 28, 1894 in Colesburg, Iowa. He received his A.B. from Iowa State Teachers’ College, his M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
Dr. Brown was actively engaged in the field of public administration for over 35 years. He taught in several mainland universities, including the University of Iowa, New York University, University of Colorado, and the University of North Dakota. He served for six years (1935-1942) as Director of the Department of Government Management at the University of Denver. This department was established to train research men for citizens’ organizations and was financed by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. From 1942-1948, Dr. Brown was Director of Field Surveys with the Tax Foundation of New York. This organization conducted research on Federal and local governmental problems. In addition to supervising the Tax Foundation research staff on projects in state and local governments, he assisted the 36 state taxpayers’ organizations with their research programs. These projects dealt with administrative reorganization, financial control, and specialized tax studies.
From 1948-1953, he was Director of the Tax Study Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Honolulu. The staff of this committee was engaged in preparing research reports on both county and territorial government problems.
From 1953, until retirement in 1959, he was [the first ever] Director of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization, organized for the purpose of fostering and encouraging efficiency and economy in government.
To commemorate the Foundation’s 66th year and honor his memory we are launching:
Roy E. Brown Society ($10,000) Membership
- Tickets to all 4 Legislative Breakfast Briefings.
- Preferred seating at Foundation events and functions.
- Top tier recognition on Foundation website. The Foundation will dedicate a special page to Society members.
- The opportunity to be represented on the Foundation’s Board of Directors or Board of Advisors.
- Real-time access to our Legislative Tax Bill Service, which shows you the commentary and testimony the Foundation provides on tax legislation at the same time it is submitted to the Hawaii Legislature. If you want a digest and commentary on tax bills that you think may affect your business, you have them here
- A weekly email containing the Weekly Commentary that the Foundation submits to the news media.
- Free Subscription to Hawaii Business Magazine (annual)
- Commemorative Plaque
