The late Ron Brown, was the first African American to hold the office of U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Secretary Brown was born in Washington, D.C. in 1941. He grew up in New York, and with the help of a scholarship attended Middlebury College in Vermont. He received his law degree from St. John's University, attending at night while working by day as a welfare caseworker for the City of New York. He served for four years in the Army in both Germany and Korea.

As a lawyer, a negotiator, a pragmatic bridge builder, and the highly successful immediate past chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Secretary Brown brought wide experience to the newest challenge of building a strong private sector/public sector partnership. "The Department of Commerce's central mission must be to promote long-term economic growth," he had once stated. "That includes rebuilding our industrial base and working with small business owners and minority entrepreneurs to create and expand employment opportunities."

Secretary Brown served on the President's National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council and the Task Force on National Health Care Reform. He was also chairman of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, the Co-Chair of the U.S.-Russia Business Development Committee and the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission, and lead President Clinton's initiative on the revitalization of the California economy.