:Robert H. Brower
{{short description|American linguist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| name = Robert H. Brower
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|03|23}}
| birth_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|02|29|1923|03|23}}
| occupation = Professor at the University of Michigan
|alma_mater=University of Michigan
|spouse = Sally Brower, ?–1988
| years_active = 1966–1988
}}
Robert H. Brower (March 23, 1923 – February 29, 1988){{cite web|title=Brower, Robert H.|url=http://lccn.loc.gov/nr90011815|work=Library of Congress Authorities|accessdate=April 28, 2012}}{{Cite web | title=Maine Death Records | url= http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_death_record.asp?id=197831 | work=Maine Genealogy | accessdate=April 27, 2012}} was a professor of Far East Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, chair of Far East Language and Literature at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1988.{{Cite web | title=Faculty History Project | url= http://um2017.org/faculty-history/faculty/robert-h-brower| work=University of Michigan | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
Life as a student
Professor Brower was born on March 23, 1923, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received his
bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1944. He learned Japanese
while serving with the armed forces in World War II, and received his
master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in 1947 and
1952, respectively.
Teaching
He returned to Michigan in 1966 after teaching at the
University of Minnesota and Stanford University. As the chairman of the
Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures from 1971 to 1981, he
was instrumental in expanding Michigan's reputation as a major center for
Brower joined the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan in 1966, and served as chairman of the department from 1971 through 1981. He served in the professorial ranks at Stanford University from 1954 through 1966, and in 1963–64 he served as director of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Tokyo. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1951 through 1954.
Brower was an internationally recognized authority on traditional Japanese literature, especially poetry. His book Japanese Court Poetry, written in collaboration with Earl Miner, was one of the first critical examinations in English of the poetry of the Japanese imperial court from the sixth through the 14th centuries, and was the seminal work in his specialty, classical poetry and poetics. First published in 1976, it remains a standard text for students of Japanese literature.
Brower was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Japan in 1962–63. He also received research grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Japan Foundation. He was president of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, 1971–74, and a member of the Association of Asian Studies and the American Oriental Society.
In 1987, Brower's former students established a small endowment, on the occasion of his retirement, to honor and memorialize his many contributions to the field of Japanese literature. The fund is designated to support the purchase of select volumes on classical Japanese literature. The fund is managed by the Center for Japanese Studies. Upon his death, it was his widow Sally Brower's wish that friends and family members give donations to the Robert H. Brower Library Fund, in lieu of flowers or gifts.{{Cite web | title=Faculty History Project Memorial| url= http://um2017.org/faculty-history/faculty/robert-h-brower| work=University of Michigan | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
Death
At the time of his death, Brower was at work on a series of translations of poetic treatises, which promised to reveal how Japanese poets regarded their own art.
Robert H. Brower died on Monday, February 29, 1988.{{Cite web | title=Maine Death Records | url= http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_death_record.asp?id=197831 | work=Maine Genealogy | accessdate=April 27, 2012}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Brower|first1=Robert H. |authorlink=Robert H. Brower |first2=Earl |last2=Miner |title=Japanese Court Poetry (Stanford Studies in the Civilizations of Eastern Asia) |location= Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |year= 1961 |isbn=0-8047-1524-6}}
- {{cite book |last1=Brower|first1=Robert H. |authorlink=Robert H. Brower |first2=Earl |last2=Miner |title=Fujiwara Teika's 'Superior Poems of Our Time': A Thirteenth-Century Poetic Treatise and Sequence |location= Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |year= 1967 |isbn=0-8047-0171-7}}
References
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Category:University of Michigan faculty
Category:Scholars of Japanese literature
Category:University of Michigan alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni