Robert G.W. Brown

Dr. Robert G. W. Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Physics, AIP, a federation of 10 leading U.S. physics-based scientific societies and provider of outreach resources for the physical sciences community. AIP also publishes the preeminent magazine Physics Today. Brown recently served as Treasurer on the Board of Managers of AIP Publishing LLC, a wholly owned AIP subsidiary that carries out the Institute's scholarly publishing mission.

With more than 40 years of experience in the physical sciences in roles that include practicing physicist and engineer, research director, editorial director, chief technology officer and leading sensor scientist, Dr. Brown is a passionate advocate for the global impact the physical sciences have in our world today, especially as the basis for most technologies we use every day. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed research papers in the global physical science literature. He is co-Editor-in-Chief of theHandbook of Optoelectronics and CRC Press’ Optics and Optoelectronics book series.

Prior to joining AIP, Dr. Brown served as chief sensor scientist at the Advanced Technology Center of Rockwell Collins Inc., a U.S. aerospace and defense company. Dr. Brown’s accomplishments in that role include nano-plasmonic detectors for UV, visible light, all infrared and THz regions; also the invention of a nano-plasmonic ultra-fast computing scheme, in addition to the creation of ultra-high-index nano-plasmonic glass. Some 25 newly filed patents cover these break-through inventions, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) having granted nine to date.

Dr. Brown has served on the U.K. Government’s Home Office Science and Technology advisory board, in addition to serving on NASA’s International Microgravity Advisory Committee, and also as Professor and Director of Nanotechnology for Northern Ireland. He was elected into the European Academy, Academia Europaea in 2002.

Dr. Brown studied at the University of London and received a BS in Physics in 1973. He was awarded a PhD in Engineering from the University of Surrey in 1983.

Additional Career Highlights

Dr. Brown’s career took off when he became Principal Scientist at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, a scientific research establishment within the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom. There he specialized in photon-correlation laser velocimetry and spectroscopy and invented new ways to use laser diodes, single-photon-counting avalanche-photodiodes and single-mode optical-fibers to miniaturize and improve upon previous light-scattering instruments. These technologies have become industry standard today, being used in many scientific instruments and basic physics experiments.

He then served as the Head of Optoelectronics Research and General Manager at Sharp Laboratories of Europe in Oxford, UK where he led research to design and develop new devices for consumer electronics. After Sharp, Dr. Brown served as the International Editorial Director of the United Kingdom’s Institute of Physics (IoP), which works to advance physics. There he led the creation of new IoP centers in China and Russia.

From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Brown served as the Chief Technology Officer at Carlsbad, California-based Ostendo Technologies, Inc., which develops solid-state technologies and lighting displays for commercial, consumer and government markets.

Since 2009, in addition to his nanotechnology research activities at Rockwell Collins, Dr. Brown has worked concurrently as an Adjunct Full Professor in the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic of the University of California, Irvine, and in UC Irvine's Department of Computer Science.