Ewart Brown

Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. (born 1946) is a politician and physician who served as the ninth Premier of Bermuda and leader of the country's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010.

In 1966 he represented Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica.

The University of Illinois offered him a scholarship, but Brown chose instead to attend Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C. In 1966, he represented Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games, reaching the second round of the 400-yard dash.

As a student leader, he was a vocal figure during the Washington riots, speaking alongside campus activists and Black Panther leaders such as Stokely Carmichael.

In 1968, Brown led a coalition of Howard University campus political organizations in a successful five-day takeover of the school's administration building.

It was the first all-black seizure of a college administration building in the United States.

Brown decided to continue his education and become a doctor.

He earned an M.D. from Howard's College of Medicine, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a Master of Public Health from the University of California.

His key areas of study included family medicine, population control and international health.

Brown remained in Los Angeles, acquiring US citizenship and opening a medical practice, the Vermont Century Medical Clinic, in 1974.

In 1974 he became the first qualified doctor in 50 years to be turned down for a Bermuda Medical license to practice after failing the registration exam.

Brown alleged that the powers that be deliberately gave him a failing grade for political reasons.

He received the Physicians Recognition Award in 1977 from the American Medical Association; the Grassroots Health Award from the Sons of Watts California in 1979; the Dubois Academic Institute's Community Leadership Award in 1982; the Pacesetter Award from the NAACP in 1984; Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Marcus Garvey School in Los Angeles in 1991; and in 1993, the Scroll Award from the Union of American Physicians and Dentists.

He eventually received his license to practice in 1988, and set up Bermuda Healthcare Services in 1990, returning to the island permanently in 1993.

Brown became a director for the Marcus Garvey School, a K-8 school in Los Angeles, which named him Humanitarian of the Year in 1991.

Brown has served as a trustee of both Howard University and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Assistant Professor of Drew University's Department of Family Practice.

Brown is a former member of the Board of Directors of Marina Hills Hospital in Los Angeles, California; a former member of the California State Commission on Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health; and a founding Commissioner of the Board of Prevention Commissioners for South Central Los Angeles Regional Centre for Development Disabilities.

He was a founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Western Park Hospital in Los Angeles, California and served as Director of Quality Assurance for the Los Angeles Doctor's Hospital; Chairman of the Minority Group Affairs of the Student American Medical Association and as a Coordinator of the Summer Health Task Force of the National Urban Coalition in Washington D.C.; as Chairman of the Utilization Review Committee, West Adams Hospital, Los Angeles, California; and as Secretary of the Charles R. Drew Medical Society in Los Angeles.

Brown has been honored for his service to medicine and for his humanitarian and philanthropic efforts.

He was recognized twice by Howard University's College of Medicine for distinguished service to the college.

He represented Warwick South Central as a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2010.

Born in Bermuda, Brown is a graduate of Howard University and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

At the urging of then-PLP leader L. F. Wade, Brown returned to Bermuda and became involved in local politics in 1993 to run as a candidate for the Opposition Progressive Labour Party.

That year, he ran as a PLP candidate for one of the two Warwick West constituency's seats in the House of Assembly, facing the two incumbent UBP members of parliament: Quinton Edness and Sir John Sharpe, the former Premier.

Brown finished only two votes behind Edness, unseating Sharpe by 14 votes.

In Opposition, Brown first served as Shadow Minister for Youth and Sports and in 1995 became Shadow Minister for Human Affairs.

He was the seventh leader of the Progressive Labour Party and the third leader of that party since winning the 1998 general election.

Under his leadership, Brown pledged to take Bermuda to the next level and to "lead Bermuda to greater health, happiness and prosperity for all of its people".

In the following general election in 1998, Brown again won one of the Warwick West seats, and was joined by El James during the PLP's historic victory over the UBP ending 30 years of United Bermuda Party rule.

Premier Brown was elected leader of the ruling Progressive Labour Party on 30 October 2006, defeating incumbent leader and Premier William Alexander Scott, at a PLP delegates conference.

Brown won the vote 107 – 76.

In the 2007 General Election the PLP defeated the United Bermuda Party for the third election in a row.

Brown retired in October 2010.

Since leaving office, Brown has returned to his medical practice as founder and Executive Chairman of Bermuda HealthCare Services and Brown-Darrell Clinic.

He was charged with on 13 counts of corruption in January 2021.

Brown was born in Bermuda to Ewart Sr. and Helene Brown of Flatts.

His mother was a member of parliament for the United Bermuda Party (UBP), as was his aunt, Gloria Juanita McPhee, who became Bermuda's first female cabinet minister.

He attended the public Central School (today known as Victor Scott Primary) in Pembroke until the age of 11, after which he attended Berkeley Institute.

He eventually was sent by his parents to live with an aunt in Jamaica, where he excelled in sports, particularly cricket and track and field, while attending St Jago High School in Spanish Town, eventually representing that school in the 440-yard dash.

Brown's sporting achievements led him to university in the United States of America.