Ron Brown Dies In Airplane Crash

Secretary of Commerce and former Institute of Politics (IOP) advisor Ron Brown was killed in a plane crash yesterday a few miles outside the coastal Adriatic village of Dubrovik, Croatia.

Thirty-two passengers were aboard the plane. At least eight were confirmed dead and the rest are presumed killed.

Brown and a group of top American executives were exploring business possibilities in the Balkans.

Two Harvard graduates were among the passengers: California housing developer I. Donald Terner '61 and New York Times reporter Nathaniel C. Nash '73.

Nash's body was recovered at the scene of the crash, but Terner's body had not been recovered by press time.

The plane was en route to Sarajevo, Yugoslavia when it crashed due to inclement weather a few miles outside Dubrovik.

Air force officials believe the pilot encountered difficulty navigating in the storm, which was the area's worst in months.

Reporters at the scene could see the plane resting on its belly atop a small hill. Its middle was burned.

The plane was a T-43--the military version of a Boeing 737. The 23-year-old plane was used during the recent trip to the Balkans by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea.

It was last inspected in June 1995.

Brown at the K-School

Brown came to the Kennedy School after serving as campaign manager for Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 in 1980 during his abortive campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Brown was first appointed an IOP fellow. He then served as chair of the IOP Senior Advisory Committee for 10 years.

Students and officials at the IOP were unanimous in their expression of grief.

"He was a guiding force and mentor here for the past 10 years," said IOP Deputy Director Catherine McLaughlin. "He took a real interest in students and this is a terrible tragedy,"

Student Advisory Committee Chair Avery W. Gardner '97 said Brown was "a great friend of the IOP."

"[Brown] worked hard to provide internships to students and we will miss him terribly," she said.

Brown had also worked for the National Urban League, a civil rights group.

Andrei H. Cerny '97, editor of the IOP-affiliated Harvard Political Review, said Brown's death signals the passing of a forceful advocate for equality.

"Along with the rest of the nation, the Harvard Political Review mourns Brown's loss," Cerny said.

Harvard Deaths

Terner was aboard the plane, according to family friend Patrick J. Kudmore, because the secretary of commerce valued Kudmore's expertise as a housing developer.

After taking his doctorate in city planning at the Harvard Graduate of School of Design, Terner taught at Harvard, MIT and was dean at the University of California-Berkeley.

"Brown had taken a number of executives with him hoping that they would make alliances with the Bosnians," Kudmore said.

Nash and Terner

In 1978, Terner was appointed director of housing and community development for the city of California. He then established the BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a non-profit organization which has constructed more than 6,000 units of low-cost housing throughout San Francisco.

His developments had earned national recognition and were featured on an edition of The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour.

Kudmore remembered Lerner as a man who had met with much success in life, but never forgot to help the common citizens around him.

"He was an extraordinarly dynamic and far-seeing man who had great empathy and concern for the poor," he said.

Nash, 44, was based in the Frankfort bureau of The Times and was covering the delegation's planned three-day visit.

He is the newspaper's first reporter to die on assignment since World War II, according to Joseph Lelyveld, executive editor of The Times.

--Material from The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.

Student Advisory Committee Chair Avery W. Gardner '97 said Brown was "a great friend of the IOP."

"[Brown] worked hard to provide internships to students and we will miss him terribly," she said.

Brown had also worked for the National Urban League, a civil rights group.

Andrei H. Cerny '97, editor of the IOP-affiliated Harvard Political Review, said Brown's death signals the passing of a forceful advocate for equality.

"Along with the rest of the nation, the Harvard Political Review mourns Brown's loss," Cerny said.

Harvard Deaths

Terner was aboard the plane, according to family friend Patrick J. Kudmore, because the secretary of commerce valued Kudmore's expertise as a housing developer.

After taking his doctorate in city planning at the Harvard Graduate of School of Design, Terner taught at Harvard, MIT and was dean at the University of California-Berkeley.

"Brown had taken a number of executives with him hoping that they would make alliances with the Bosnians," Kudmore said.

Nash and Terner

In 1978, Terner was appointed director of housing and community development for the city of California. He then established the BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a non-profit organization which has constructed more than 6,000 units of low-cost housing throughout San Francisco.

His developments had earned national recognition and were featured on an edition of The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour.

Kudmore remembered Lerner as a man who had met with much success in life, but never forgot to help the common citizens around him.

"He was an extraordinarly dynamic and far-seeing man who had great empathy and concern for the poor," he said.

Nash, 44, was based in the Frankfort bureau of The Times and was covering the delegation's planned three-day visit.

He is the newspaper's first reporter to die on assignment since World War II, according to Joseph Lelyveld, executive editor of The Times.

--Material from The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.