ECA Producer

Bishop Brown '12, who enjoys an international reputation in the field of department store management, has seemed of late to be a trans-Atlantic commuter. A winter assignment took him to France as one of five American businessmen named by the Economic Cooperation Administration to give French industrialists information and pointers on marketing, salesmanship, and other subjects essential to successful merchandising, in a joint effort to increase productivity in that country. Somewhat to the surprise of ECA planners, over 400 French businessmen applied for the 120 places in the seminars, which were held in Lille.

When he was asked to join the group of American advisers, Mr. Brown had recently returned to this country after attending the Brussels Management Conference. He previously attended the Stockholm and Washington World Management Congresses. In 1950 he was invited by the British Ministry of Education to read papers at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

Known as a leading authority on store research and merchandising, and the training of college graduates for executive positions in retail stores, Mr. Brown has, since 1936, been the Director of the Research Bureau for Retail Training at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to other activities, he is a member of the Board of Directors, Allegheny Vocational Counseling Center in Pittsburgh; chairman of the Research Committee, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Pittsburgh; and director of the Distribution Section, Society for Advancement of Management. Before his affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh, Mr. Brown worked as a hotel manager, salesman, and manager for several leading department stores in Boston.