William Adams Brown, PhD, D.D.

William Adams Brown (1865- ) Son of John Crosby Brown, merchant banker and Brown Brothers Company. The Brown family had been involved in with the Union Theological Seminary almost since it's inception, and William Adams' grandfather, James Brown, was one of the school's financial patrons. His grandfather on his mother's side, William Adams, became the UTS president in 1873.

After private education attended St. Paul's Preparatory School New Hampshire for four years, followed by one year of graduate study at Yale University. Union Theological Seminary graduate 1890. Two years graduate study in Germany, studying with the historian Adolph Harnack. http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/people/harnack.htm

UTS faculty member as instructor of Church History during the great controversy, the heresy case against Charles A. Briggs. Within a year the school asked him to teach Systematic Theology despite his lack of training in the field. Five years later William Adams Brown was named Roosevelt Chair of Systematic Theology.

The Brown Family and UTS

http://library.columbia.edu/content/dam/libraryweb/libraries/burke/fa/uts/ldpd_5636420.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Brothers_Harriman