Katherine Tsanoff Brown, professor emerita of art history at Rice University in Houston, Texas, died on August 22. She was 97 years old.
Professor Brown grew up on the Rice University campus as her father was the university’s first professor of philosophy. Katherine Tsanoff Brown enrolled at Rice at the age of 15 and earned a bachelor’s degree four years later. She went on to earn a master of fine arts degree from Cornell University.
In 1963, Professor Brown joined the faculty at Rice University, as its first instructor in art history. She was promoted to full professor in 1975 and retired in 1989. At Rice, she also served as dean of undergraduate affairs from 1973 to 1983.