Michael F. Brown

Dr. Brown, a cultural anthropologist, has been president of the School for Advanced Research since 2014. His research covers a broad range of topics, including the Indigenous peoples of Amazonia, new religious movements, and the global challenge of protecting Indigenous cultural property from misuse and appropriation. He has an AB degree from Princeton and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Michigan and has been awarded research fellowships by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Institute for Advanced Study. Prior to his appointment as SAR president, Brown served on the faculty of Williams College for 34 years.

In addition to numerous scholarly articles, Brown is the author of six books, including The Channeling Zone: American Spirituality in an Anxious Age (1997), Who Owns Native Culture? (2003), and Upriver: The Turbulent Life and Times of an Amazonian People (2014). He has also published articles and reviews in publications including Natural History, Smithsonian,The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New York Times Book Review.