KU News Release

Willie Brown

---

More Information

• Dole Institute of Politics

LAWRENCE — Former Speaker of the California Assembly and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, one of America’s most prominent African-American politicians, will speak Tuesday, Feb. 23, at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas.

Brown will give an interview relating to his 40 years of public service in an event titled “Mr. Speaker, Mr. Mayor.” The interview, which commemorates Black History Month, begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Dole Institute. It is free and open to the public.

“We are excited to have Speaker Brown join us at the Dole Institute,” said Associate Director Barbara Ballard. “As speaker, Brown had an amazing ability to broker compromise between parties, enabling him to pass critical legislation and serve as Speaker of the Assembly for an unprecedented 15 years. He is truly extraordinary.”

First elected to the California State Assembly in 1964, Brown entered the 80-member body as one of only four African-American members. Brown, a Democrat, first won the speaker’s office in 1980 with an unexpected coalition of 28 Republicans and only 23 Democrats.

In 1996, Brown returned to San Francisco to run for mayor. After a fiercely fought primary contest, Brown faced the incumbent mayor in the general election. On Election Day, Brown won the office in a landslide. Brown began his term as one of the most popular mayors in the city’s history and was re-elected to a second term by an 18 percent margin. He was mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004.

Brown grew up in the racially segregated town of Mineola, Texas. After high school, he left east Texas for San Francisco, where an uncle lived. Brown graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in political science. He received a law degree from Hastings Law School, where he was elected president of his class. During a time when few black attorneys practiced, Brown gained prominence in San Francisco by litigating cases other attorneys believed were impossible.