In Remembrance: Thomas E. Brown ’68MDiv, ’76PhD Died on August 18 2025

Dr. Thomas E. Brown, a devoted husband, father, brother, and grandfather, passed away at home, surrounded by family, on August 18, 2025. He was 83. 

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 25, 1942, Tom attended Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Knox College in 1964, he earned a master of divinity from Yale Divinity School in 1968, and then his PhD in clinical psychology from Yale University in 1976. 

Dr. Brown became one of the most influential voices in the modern understanding of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Over the course of five decades, he transformed how the world sees ADHD—not simply as a disorder of attention, but as a complex challenge of executive functioning. He developed the widely used Brown Executive Function/Attention Rating Scales and authored seven books, including the acclaimed Smart but Stuck and A New Understanding of ADHD, which continue to guide patients, families, and professionals worldwide. 

Tom married Roberta “Bobbie” Brown on June 3, 1967. Together they raised their children, Liza and David, in Hamden, Connecticut. In 1979, Brown became the consulting psychologist for Hamden Hall Country Day School, where both Liza and David attended. For many years, Tom and Bobbie Brown were beloved fixtures in both the Hamden Hall and Hopkins School communities. 

Brown served on the clinical faculty at Yale Divinity School and was director of clinical services at Highland Heights Residential Treatment Center. In 1984, he opened a private practice and joined the Yale Department of Psychology, later transitioning to the Yale School of Medicine, where he taught for more than 20 years and served as associate director of the Yale Clinic for Attention. Following the death of his wife, Bobbie, Tom moved to Los Angeles to be closer to Liza and David. In 2017, he founded the Brown Clinic for ADHD in Manhattan Beach, California, with his associate and mentee, Ryan J. Kennedy. His West Coast affiliations included adjunct faculty appointments at both USC and the UC Riverside School of Medicine. 

A gifted speaker, Dr. Brown was invited to lecture in more than 50 countries around the globe. For many years, he traveled with his beloved wife, Bobbie. From donning Viking horned hats in Norway to riding elephants in India, they lived a life full of love and shared adventure. 

Among his most widely viewed work is a 28-minute video produced for Understood.org, where he clearly explained the nuances of ADHD in everyday language. The video has been viewed over 11 million times and remains one of the most-watched and referenced ADHD resources online—solidifying Dr. Brown’s role not only as a clinician and educator, but also as a gifted communicator who made complex science accessible to the world. 

Brown was a pioneer in the field of ADHD and learning disabilities. He published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles; was an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association; received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Knox College; and in 2024 was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from CHADD, the leading nonprofit for ADHD. His loss is felt not only by colleagues and patients, but by a global community of scholars, clinicians, students, and families. He was admired for his intellectual rigor, revered for his clinical insight, and beloved for his compassion and warmth. His legacy endures in the lives he touched, and the field he helped shape. Tom will be remembered by his family as a dedicated, loving, generous, and kind patriarch; he will be missed, but his presence and impact will live on. 

“Doc” Brown is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth “Liza” Somilleda, and her husband, Abel, of Hawthorne, California; his son, David Brown, and his wife, Jen, of Los Angeles, California; his grandchildren, Noah Somilleda, Simone Somilleda, and Ford Brown; and his beloved sister, Nancy Gebhard, and her husband, Robert Gebhard, of Centennial, Colorado.

—Submitted by the family.