One Gutsy Phone Call Took Alumnus From a Dirt Road to a United States Embassy

From Dirt Road to Dean’s Office

Brown grew up on a dirt road in Keswick. His parents, Emma Frances Arrington Brown and Wardell “Mouse” Brown, both worked at UVA’s hospital. Arthur Brown attended Albemarle High School, where he played football and enjoyed history, government and social studies classes, but wasn’t so keen on other subjects.

In his senior year, his government teacher, a UVA alumnus named Bob Weaver, recruited Brown to go on the annual Model UN trip to New York, where Brown represented Angola, an experience he said “helped form my thinking.”

Another trip, this time to Monticello, also inspired Brown. He learned Thomas Jefferson was a diplomat before he was president. “He went to France, and he was representing our country,” Brown recalled. “And it was one of these things where it’s like, ‘Man, if Jefferson could go to France and represent, I could do it, too.’”

Brown applied to UVA, but his inconsistent high school record proved to be a problem. The Office of Admission replied with the dreaded thin envelope containing a single-page rejection letter.

Brown’s father challenged him to go back to UVA’s admission office. “Are you gonna let those people up at the University tell you that you can’t go to school up there?” Arthur recalled him saying.

So Arthur went back in person and told them they’d made a mistake. “They sent out the regular folks who deal with students who are crying about not getting admitted,” Brown said. “They kicked me to the curb.”

They told him Blackburn was the only one who could change the decision. So, when he got home, Brown opened the phone book, found a listing for “John A. Blackburn” and dialed the number. Rather surprised at Brown’s boldness, Blackburn invited the rejected applicant to meet at his office. They talked through a lot of things, including Brown’s dream of being a diplomat.

Betty Blackburn, Jack’s widow, remembers Arthur Brown’s story well.

“He came dressed in freshly ironed khaki pants, blue shirt and UVA tie. Loafers, too,” she said. “Jack was tickled by that and saw what he loved – a highly motivated man dressed to impress.”

Brown said, “His question to me was, ‘Well, if you don’t get into the University of Virginia, what are you going to do?’ And I said, ‘I’ll be going to Parris Island.’

“His whole body language was like, ‘That’s the alternative?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s it. UVA or bust. UVA or the Marine Corps.’”

It worked. “He was like, ‘OK, we’ll get back to you.’ And then after that, I received sort of a provisional acceptance. I had to do summer classes, sort of brush up on a couple things,” Brown said.

On Grounds

Brown was a walk-on on the UVA football team for a year before determining that he was better suited to the rugby club. (UVA Athletics photo)

Brown thrived at UVA. He held several part-time jobs, including restaurant dishwasher and University Transit System bus driver. He joined the football team for a season as a walk-on, but it was more than he expected.

“At that level, it’s a whole other thing, and it was beyond me,” he recalled. “I saw that there were kegs of beer on the rugby pitch next to my fraternity, Sigma Nu, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m out of here. I’m gonna go play rugby.’”

He delved into history, sociology, government, anthropology, jazz music and the African diaspora. Brown double-majored in sociology and African American studies, and he visited Blackburn every year to report on his progress.

“Undergraduate studies were great, because I really got a chance to grow academically and understand the broader world,” he said. “But I was still stuck in Charlottesville, Albemarle County. I was born in UVA Hospital. And so it was one of these things where it was like, “I’ve got to get out of the Piedmont. I’ve got to travel. I wanted to go as far and as wide as possible.”

Exploring the World

Brown graduated in 1989, joined the Peace Corps and found himself in the West African nations of Togo and Benin.

“I would have to say starting off being a Peace Corps volunteer is the foundation of my international exposure,” he said. “Working at that sort of grassroots development, community development level. That had the most influence of anything.”

The Peace Corps is also where he met his future wife, Krista Luchie Brown, a volunteer from Pennsylvania.

When Brown completed his three-year stint in West Africa, he returned to the U.S. and earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s in national security strategy from the National War College. In 1999, he joined the Foreign Service and earned that coveted black passport.

Around the World in 25 Years

The roster of countries in which Brown has served is long: Zimbabwe, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Guinea, Afghanistan and Nigeria. He regionally covered Sierra Leone, Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and Namibia.

Throughout his career, Brown has focused on promoting economic development, often through the U.S. Agency for International Development. As he climbed the ranks to deputy chief of mission – sort of the chief operating officer of an embassy – he sought to mentor junior diplomats.

“I don’t feel fulfilled if I’m not pulling other people along with me,” he said.

“Let’s face it, kids from dirt roads in Keswick generally stay in Keswick. … And now that I’m an ambassador, I’m representing. I’ve got a different face for America, and it’s great. … I turn heads every day, and it’s great.”

He’s also raising a family with the woman he met in the Peace Corps, who is now a family nurse practitioner serving with the U.S. Embassy health unit in Abuja, Nigeria. They have two children, Arrington, a sophomore at the Pennsylvania College of Technology; and Ella, a junior at a boarding school outside Philadelphia.

On to Ecuador

Brown finally earned his first ambassadorship and arrived in Quito, Ecuador, in June. As ambassador, he is the U.S. president’s official representative to the government and people of Ecuador. He leads the embassy and consulate teams in Quito, in the Andes Mountains, and Guayaquil, on the coast, to advance U.S. foreign policy in Ecuador.

“Ecuador is fantastic,” he said. “It’s the people who are just so rich and warm in terms of how they receive you. We call it ‘cariño’ – it’s just sort of like a warmth, an embrace.”

Ecuador sits on the equator in northwestern South America, wedged between Colombia and Peru. It’s a major transit point for drug trafficking and is plagued by crime and violence, Brown said. It’s also a waystation for would-be immigrants heading toward the U.S.

Brown’s focus is fighting narcotrafficking, reducing crime, supporting economic prosperity, fighting poverty and advancing diplomatic relations. He engages directly with community members and non-governmental organizations to learn about the everyday experiences of Ecuadorians.

“The mission advocates for democratic principles of transparency and respect for human rights,” Brown wrote in an email. “By helping Ecuador return security to its people, gain a firm financial footing, and root out corrupt networks that have allowed transnational crime to flourish, the U.S. Mission to Ecuador works together with the Ecuadorian government, civil society, the press and the private sector to bolster Ecuadorians’ trust in democracy and enable a more secure and prosperous hemisphere.”

How long Brown will serve in Ecuador is an open question, especially with the U.S. presidential election looming. He has been eligible to retire for seven years and “can tap out at any point,” he acknowledged.

“I would love to go someplace and help run and make things better somewhere,” he said. “It might be Congress. It might be state government. Who knows? Who knows how these things evolve?”