ALBION, Mich. – Albion College has renamed its Honors Institute the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute in memory of the 1911 Albion graduate and United States Senator from Michigan who was integrally involved in the development and operation of the Mackinac Bridge.

Albion President Peter Mitchell made the announcement last night [Thursday, August 26] during the annual William K. Stoffer Lecture at the College’s Opening Convocation. Beginning this fall, the Institute and its home on campus—the College’s historic Observatory—will bear Brown’s name.

“We are enormously grateful to Senator Brown’s family, led by his son, Prentiss M. Brown, Jr., of the Albion College Class of 1948, and his wife, Peggy, for their generous contributions toward the endowment of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Institute,” Mitchell said in his remarks last night. “The Brown family’s ties to Albion College are longstanding. Beginning with Senator Brown, more than 30 family members have attended Albion.”

“Their gifts, provided as part of our current capital campaign, represent another important step in making our vision, ‘Liberal Arts at Work,’ a reality,” Mitchell continued.

The Brown family’s major commitment will support Honors Institute programming for many years.  

Lisa Lewis, associate professor of chemistry and the director of the Honors Institute said the Brown family contributions will help further the programming and goals of the honors Institute.

“The Brown family commitment helps us to fully implement those programs which up to this point we have not been able to do in the Honors Institute,” Lewis said. “These are strong initiatives that will only strengthen the Honors students’ experience at Albion College. The members of the Institute and I are grateful to the Brown family for their generous support of our program and the College over the years.”

The only U.S. Senator among Albion College alumni, Brown served in the Senate for seven years beginning in 1936. He was a College trustee from 1938 until 1966, when he became an honorary trustee. Brown received an honorary degree from the College in 1937.

His son, Prentiss Brown, Jr., (right) is an attorney and businessman in St. Ignace. He has continued his father’s legacy of leadership at Albion, currently serving as a trustee.

Several Brown family members traveled from St. Ignace and other areas to be present for the announcement, made prior to last night’s Stoffer Lecture on Albion’s Quadrangle. In a speech to more than 2,500 students, parents, staff, and Albion community members, veteran journalist Sam Donaldson gave his take on “The View from Washington.”

During a career in public office that began in 1914, Brown was at one time the only Democrat serving as a prosecuting attorney in the state. A financial expert, he served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served as Whip of the Senate and on the Senate Appropriations Committee. During his tenure on Capitol Hill, Brown championed the rights of consumers, small businesses, and “the little man.”

Brown’s leadership was not limited to the U.S. Congress. He also served as director of the Office of Price Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt, having drafted the legislation for the office while in the Senate. He then served as chairman of the Detroit Edison Company and as a successful attorney and banker in his hometown of St. Ignace. Senator Brown led the efforts to construct the bridge between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, a feat that continues to be considered one of the modern marvels of engineering, entrepreneurship and cooperation.

A lifelong resident of St. Ignace, he was appointed chair of the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950—seven years before the bridge’s official opening. Spearheading the project from dream to reality, Brown chaired the Bridge Authority until his death in 1973. It wasn’t until Brown was appointed to chair the Bridge Authority that the funding and plans began to take shape. In 1952, with Brown intensely lobbying elected officials, the state legislature authorized the Bridge Authority to bond, build, and operate a toll bridge. The bridge opened officially in 1957.

Brown recounted the long road to building the 8,616-foot suspension bridge in his 1956 “The Mackinac Bridge Story,” published by Wayne State University Press.

A national and regional leader in academics, technology, the arts and athletics, Albion College is dedicated to improving the human condition by educating the leaders of tomorrow. Founded more than 165 years ago in Albion, Mich., the College is committed to the theme of “Liberal Arts at Work.” With 50 percent of its alumni making gifts to the college, Albion is ranked 16^th nationally among all colleges and universities in the percentage of alumni who donate to their alma maters.