Kenneth L. Brown became President of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in May 2001. As a career Foreign Service Officer from 1961 to 1995, he served at the American Embassy in Brussels and six posts in Africa. The latter included ambassadorships in Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana. At the Department of State he held the positions of Deputy Director of UN Political Affairs, Associate Spokesman, Director of Central African Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, among others. After leaving the Foreign Service, Ambassador Brown was Director of the Dean Rusk Program in International Studies at Davidson College from 1995 to 2001.

Ambassador Brown has a BA in International Relations from Pomona College, an MA in International Relations from Yale University, an MA in Political Science from NYU, and a Ph.D. in Political Sociology from Cape Coast University in Ghana.

Ambassador Brown is married to attorney Bonnie H. Lea-Brown, a specialist in community development.