Biography

Barbara A. "Barb" Brown was a math instructor at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Cambridge·Coon Rapids, Minnesota, but she also was a mentor and friend to students who struggled with numbers and needed extra help before tackling college-level courses. Brown taught developmental courses to students who had finished high school but lacked the skills necessary to do beginning algebra or geometry.

Brown was born in Milwaukee and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1969. She later earned a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota and did postgraduate work at four other institutions. Brown started her 37-year career teaching at North St. Paul High School in 1969. She moved to the Anoka-Hennepin district, where from 1973 to 1991 she taught math courses in the Teen Parent Program for teenage mothers who could not attend regular classes. She joined the faculty at Anoka-Ramsey in 1987 and fast became a student favorite.

Brown authored 15 papers and spoke at local, regional and national mathematics conferences. She wrote articles for *Minnesota Mathematic*s magazine, and co-authored a geometry textbook. Brown was included in four editions of *Who's Who of American Teachers*, and in 1997 she was named the Minnesota Mathematics Instructor of the Year by the Minnesota Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges. In 2000, she won the Silver Chalk Award when Anoka-Ramsey students voted her as the school's outstanding teacher. "She just loved math," said her husband of 39 years, Clarence (Bud) Brown. "She'd refer to that 'a-ahh moment,' when the student lit up and understood it."

Source: [Find a Grave](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218276197/barbara-a-brown)