Robert F. Brown

Robert Fath Brown, age 82, of Newark, DE, left us peacefully on Saturday, May 18, 2024, after a brief illness. He was surrounded by his family and so much love.

Dr. Robert “Bob” Brown was born in St. Louis, MO on June 6, 1941, the son of the late John P. and Georgia F. Brown of Webster Groves, MO. Active in scouting, church, and sports during his youth, Bob graduated in 1959 from Webster Groves High School, where he earned nine letters in varsity sports: three in football (captain his senior year), three in wrestling, and three in track and field. His proudest accomplishment was in winning the Missouri State high school heavyweight wrestling championship twice, in his junior and senior years.

At DePauw University in Greencastle, IN, he was a National Merit Scholar and a General Motors Scholar, lettered in wrestling, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated in 1963 with an honors B.A. in philosophy and religion, and won a Danforth Fellowship for graduate study. During 1963-1970, he lived in New York City as a student in the joint graduate program in religion of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. He received the M.A. in religion in 1967 and the Ph. D in religion in 1971, both degrees from Columbia University.

In 1970, Dr. Brown came to the University of Delaware as an instructor in the philosophy department. He rose through the ranks to become a full professor in 1986, and continued as a philosophy faculty member until his retirement in 2007, when he was honored as professor emeritus of philosophy. Dr. Brown served as acting chairperson of the philosophy department in 1983-84 and again in 1988. He was director of the University Honors Program 1989-1998, during a time of its unprecedented growth. In the 1980-81 academic year, he was an exchange visiting lecturer in the philosophy department of Hull University, in England.

Dr. Brown was an internationally known scholar on the nineteenth century German philosopher F.W.J. Schelling, and a translator of Hegel’s works into English. His specialties were the history of philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and historical theology. He published a book, a monograph, and five scholarly articles on Schelling, as well as numerous other publications on historical and philosophy of religion topics. He collaborated with Dr. Peter Hodgson and the late Dr. J. Michael Stewart in the translation of Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, and (as editor) with them on Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy, both projects supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 2004 and well into retirement, he had a very busy and productive relationship with Dr. Hodgson, where Dr. Brown did most of the translating and Dr. Hodgson the editing: Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History (2011); Ferdinand Christian Baur, History of Christian Dogma (2014); Baur, Lectures on New Testament Theology (2016); Ferdinand Christian Baur and the History of Early Christianity, (2017); Baur, Church and Theology in the Nineteenth Century (2018); Baur, Christianity and the Christian Church of the First Three Centuries (2019); Baur, Christian Gnosis (2020); Baur, Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ (2021). At the time of his death, Dr. Brown was working on Baur, Critical Investigations of the Canonical Gospels.

Dr. Brown was a member of the American Philosophical Association, the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Philosophy of Religion, and other professional societies. A member of the Delaware Humanities Council for two terms, 1976-79 and 1983-87, he was its vice chairperson twice, and its chairperson, 1977-79. In 1993, he received the Council’s Joseph P. del Tufo Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities. He served as Treasurer of the Newark Historical Society and volunteered with Meeting of Minds, Early Memory Loss Program at the Newark Senior Center.

An avid and skilled birder, Dr. Brown participated in many censuses, and particularly enjoyed intensive work for the Delmarva Ornithological Society’s breeding bird atlas projects conducted during 1983-87 and 2008-2012. His keen interests and hobbies included wide reading, crossword puzzles, classical music, study of the stock market, and trips to Atlantic City with his wife.

Dr. Brown married Ann L. Brown (nee Werthmuller) in 1963, and they divorced in 1996. On October 31, 1997, he married Mary Ann Brown (nee Harkins, formerly Bagnatori), and shared his life with her until his passing.

He is survived by his wife Mary Ann and his stepchildren, Erin Bagnatori (Jana) and Kyle Bagnatori (Joy). Also survived by his first wife, Ann and their three children, Nathan Carlin (Michelle), Grace Hernandez (Albert) and Kristy Brown of California, as well as by five grandchildren, his sister and her husband, Barbara and Douglas Jacobs of St. Louis, brother-in-law Pat Harkins of Newark, and nephews and nieces.

As he wished, his remains were cremated with arrangements provided by Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Homes. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Bob’s memory to The Nature Conservancy of Delaware, 100 W. 10^th St., Wilmington, DE 19801 or the Newark Senior Center, 200 White Chapel Drive, Newark, DE 19713.

A memorial service will be held at a future date.