Biography:

Historian; University professor; academic administrator. Born– November 12, 1942, Birmingham. Parents– Blaine, Jr. and Annette (Holmes) Brownell. Married– Mardi Taylor, August 21, 1964. Children– Two. Education– Washington and Lee University, B.A., 1965; University of North Carolina, M.A., 1967, Ph.D., 1969. Assistant professor, Purdue University, 1969-1974; worked at University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1974-1990; served as professor and department head; Dean of the Graduate School (1978-84); Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences (1984-90). University of North Texas, Provost, 1990-1998; President of Ball State University, 2000-2004. Senior University advisor, University of South Florida, 2006-08. Member of the Birmingham Planning Commission and the Jefferson County Planning & Zoning Commission. Member American Historical Association; Southern Historical Association; American Studies Association. Honors; Awarded senior fellowship from the Institute of Southern History at Johns Hopkins University, 1971.

Source:

Contemporary Authors online

Publication(s):

Bosses and Reformers. Boston; Houghton, 1973.

The Urban Ethos in the South. Baton Rouge, La.; Louisiana State University Press, 1973.

The Urban South in the Twentieth Century. St. Charles, Mo.; Forum Press, 1974.

Using Microcomputers; a Guidebook. Newbury Park, California; Sage Publications, 1985.

Joint_Publication(s):

Urban America; from Downtown to No Town. Boston; Houghton Mifflin, 1979.

The Urban Nation, 1920-1980. New York; Hill & Wang, 1981.

Joint_editor_and_contributor;

The City in Southern History. Port Washington, N.Y.; Kennikat, 1977.