Dr. William N. Brown

Dr. William Brown is well-known to most Xiamen people, who affectionately call him “Old Pan” (Lǎo Pān).

In 1988, Dr. Brown gave up his position as Senior Vice President of First American National Securities and moved with his family to Xiamen, where he has taught MBA courses for the past 30 years. In 1992, Dr. Brown became Fujian Province’s first foreigner to receive Permanent Residence. He is also an honorary citizen of Fujian and Xiamen, and has helped 13 Chinese cities including Xiamen and neighboring Quanzhou, win gold in the International Livable Communities Competition. In 1993, Premier Li Peng gave Dr. Brown China’s “Friendship Award”. He proudly says in the Minnan (South Fujian, China) dialect, “I’m a Xiamenese!”

Since moving to China, Dr. Brown has written over 10 books to introduce Chinese cities and their culture and history.