DENNY-BREWSTER

A  LIFE  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE

Brewster Castberg Denny was born in 1924 in Seattle, Washington, the great-grandson of Arthur and Mary Denny, founders of the City of Seattle and the University of Washington.  When asked to define his life and legacy, he would respond, "A life of public service."  He began his public service in 1942 when he joined the Naval Reserve and served during World War II and the Korean War.  His later career took him to the White House, the Senate floor, before the United Nations, to critical positions on national intelligence, to government reform at the national and local level, and to the creation of one of the nation's leading schools for the preparation of careers in public service, the Graduate School of Public Affairs (now the Evans School) at the University of Washington.  Denny created the School in 1962 where he served as dean, a position he held until 1980.  He continued to teach diplomatic history and American foreign policy at the School until 1992. 

In addition to his Naval service, Brewster's other public service positions included: as an Intelligence Analyst at the Department of Defense; Advisor during the national security transition between the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations; Appointee to several presidential commissions and task forces; Advisor to governors, mayors and cabinet member; U.S. Delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations; Advisor on science policy to the governments of Thailand, Korea, Philippines and Jordan.  Brewster also served as a trustee since 1974 of The Century Foundation, a leading global policy think tank, including serving as chairman for 8 years.  Additionally, he served as a member of the GAO Comptroller General's Research and Education Advisory Panel for 21 years.  Denny had a passionate belief in the power of effective public policy to improve the lives of children and served on the Children's Alliance Board of Directors in Seattle.  He also served on the board of many local arts and historical organizations.  He was fluent in Russian, played the piano by ear, and could sing many Italian arias by heart.  Denny received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington (1945), a master's (1948) and doctorate (1959) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts.

Denny was a devoted husband and father, and with his wife of 63 years, they spent every day together discussing and solving the issues they cared about.  Debby died on June 22, 2013, and is survived by his wife, a daughter, and two grandchildren.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)