New Face

The Seattle University Alumni Association is excited to welcome Jonathan Brown, EdD, ‘92, ’94, as our new Assistant Vice President. Brown comes to Seattle University from Highline College where he was the Associate Dean for the Center for Service & Leadership, Engagement and Assessment. He served at Highline from 2001 and was named 2017 Employee of the Year among 1,000 eligible employees.

Brown is a double Seattle U alumnus, earning a Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy and English (Honors Program) in 1992 and Master of Arts, Student Development Administration in 1994. He completed his Doctorate of Education at the University of Washington in 2015.

Brown has been an active Seattle U alumnus since graduation. He founded and led an SU alumni chapter for Student Development alumni until stepping down to pursue doctoral studies and has taught graduate courses in the College of Education.

We sat down with Brown to ask him about his new role at Seattle University and his hopes for the alumni community. 

When asked what called him to return to Seattle University, he replied, “I'm not sure I ever wanted to leave in the first place! Seattle U has always been a home space for me. The opportunity to return to a campus I adore, work with people I admire, and connect with fellow alumni to build meaningful communities attracted me to apply. I have remained elated since I got the call offering me the job.”

In his role as AVP, Brown is most excited about engaging the Seattle U alumni community, or as he refers to them, the world’s finest alumni, which is currently 78,000 strong. He is also looking forward to rejoining a campus that influenced so many aspects of his core identity. “Perhaps most exciting is the opportunity to contribute to a community where we all share the common bond of receiving an education from an excellent institution that inspires students to lead, serve and grow. Now, that feels worthy of being my life's work!”

In regards to his new position, Brown says that he is here to be of service to the Seattle U alumni community. “I am returning at a time when the university wants to hear the voice of alumni. We want to feel the strengthened presence of our graduates, new and old, engaged and active, with meaningful connections back to the school, and as agents for positive change in their communities. I want alumni to know there is still space at the Seattle U table and our alumni team will help you find it.”

In his first year, Brown plans to listen and learn from the alumni community and volunteers and to focus on strengthening systems of alumni engagement through building and supporting meaningful alumni communities and connections. He concluded with an invitation for alumni. “If this sounds exciting to you, please reach out to our SU Alumni Association team—we would love to hear from you!”

You can contact the SUAA office at alumni@seattleu.edu.

Our online alumni community, SU Alumni Connect is also a great way to learn about upcoming events, join chapters and reconnect with classmates.

This article originally appeared on the SU Voice Alumni Blog.