Roscoe C. Brown Jr., a Tuskegee Airman who was former president of Bronx Community College in New York and a former professor at New York University and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, died on July 2 at a hospital in The Bronx. He was 94 years old.
A native of Washington, D.C., Dr. Brown was a graduate of Dunbar High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Serving as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II, he was credited with being the first Black fighter pilot to shoot down a German fighter plane.
After the war, Dr. Brown earned master’s and doctoral degrees at New York University. He became a professor of education at New York University and served as director of the Institute of Afro-American Affairs. In 1977, he was appointed president of Bronx Community College and served in that role for 17 years. Later, he joined the faculty at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and served as director of the Center for Urban Education Policy.
