The School has learned that Dr. Stanley Brown passed away on March 13, 2019 in Vancouver, BC.
Born in San Francisco, Stan moved to New Zealand in 1934. After war broke out, at aged 17, Stan applied to join the Royal New Zealand Navy but found he had first to renounce his American citizenship. After serving for six years, 1941-1947, he left the Navy as Lieutenant RNZVR.
On a Returned Serviceman’s Bursary he attended the University of Otago, New Zealand and completed his DIP. P.E. (Physical Education). In 1956, he received a Fulbright travel award to attend the University of Illinois (Urbana) where he completed his Ph.D. MS (Physical Education) while working part-time as a graduate assistant in the Physical Fitness Research Laboratory run by Dr Thomas K. Cureton.
After returning to New Zealand, Stan was appointed as Research Officer, P.E. Branch, Education Department of New Zealand to do specific projects, preparing tests for NZ schools, estimating physical fitness levels of NZ school children.
In 1961, Stan was invited to join the School of Physical Education at the University of British Columbia. Although a keen sportsman, in his application he declined an invitation to coach a sport, maintaining that it was impossible to devote much time and energy to coaching and do research as well; he was very much in favour of the approach to graduate study in P.E. through the scientific method.
He became the Director of the Human Performance Lab and taught graduate and undergraduate courses. Stan was in charge of testing BC children for CAHPER’s first national survey, travelling as far as Whitehorse and Ross River in 1970. He was involved in preparing fitness surveys or studies for CAHPER, YWCA members, UBC men (1,000) and elite BC and Canadian teams.
In 1961, Stan began an exercise program for faculty and staff, meeting 5 days a week, concentrated on cardiovascular fitness, often finishing with a run through the woods. He continued to lead these classes, expanded in 1975 to women, until he retired in 1988.
As more specialists joined the Faculty, Stan became less involved in graduate teaching. His interests became focused in two main areas, exercise and applied anthropometry. He worked closely with W.D. Ross, Simon Fraser University, on Kinanthropometry and acted as an external examiner for Simon Fraser theses.
Always an innovator, during the 60’s, Stan had proposed that yoga might be introduced as a recreational activity for UBC students but this was vetoed. During the 70’s on Sunday mornings, he conducted a popular University Extension class with Dr. Bina Nelson and Lyn Sereda called “Yoga and Bioenergetics.”
In association with Mr. Sol Kort, supervisor for the “Explorations in Human Potential” program at UBC, Stan brought Dr Moshe Feldenkrais to UBC in1973. Subsequently he attended the four-year summer course at the Humanistic Psychology Institute in San Francisco and became one of the first North American Feldenkrais practitioners, teaching “Awareness through Movement” and practicing “Functional Integration.”
In 1962-64, while living in President’s Row, he built and maintained a playground for the children in the area, which was supervised 5 days a week by parents.
Stan retired in 1988 after 27 years at UBC. He made frequent trips to New Zealand until 2014 when a fall impaired his mobility. He continued to exercise until his 96thbirthday learning Chi Gong in the last month of his life, enjoying reading his technical books, music, drama and films.
Stan will be remembered for his intelligence, wit and humour.
He leaves Valerie, his wife of 65 years, daughter Miranda, sons, David, Andrew and Paul, grandsons, Sinclair, Christian, Julian, Jordan and Landon; predeceased by his son Christopher in 2002.
A Celebration of Stan’s life will be held at the University Golf Club, University Boulevard, on Wednesday April 17th, 2019, 2:00pm – 4:00pm.
The BC, Musqueam, and UBC flags at the North Plaza of the Life Building (the Old SUB) will be lowered on Wednesday, April 17, in remembrance.