Robert A. Brown

10th president of Boston University

Age: 55

Education: Bachelor's and master's in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Previous experience: Provost, dean of engineering, head of department of chemical engineering, and chemical engineering professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1979-2005).

Family: Brown's wife, Beverly, has a doctorate in biochemistry and works in development at the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, a Boston-area consortium. Two sons, Ryan, 24, who works in lighting and sound in London, and Keith, 22, a physics graduate student at Harvard University.

Hobbies: Playing golf, reading military history, fishing.