Auburn alumni honored by performing arts organization for their transformative gift establishing the Gogue Performing Arts Center

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John and Rosemary Brown pose for a photo. John, wearing a black sport coat with a white and blue checked shirt and orange tie, has his arm around his wife Rosemary, who is wearing a light pink jacket with a deeper pink shirt underneath and necklace featuring a gold and pearl pendant.

John W. and Rosemary Kopel Brown

John W. and Rosemary Kopel Brown received the inaugural Arts Champion Award from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) for their landmark gift that helped establish the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University.

The Browns — both 1957 graduates and longtime supporters of the university — committed $25 million in 2015 toward what would become the Gogue Center, along with additional monies committed to a student achievement center in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and an endowed chair in the College of Sciences and Mathematics.

The Browns’ philanthropic support helped bolster gifts from other private donors and corporate partners and elevated the Gogue Center, which opened for its first season in August 2019.

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