Brazil, Burton R. (1920-2002)
Date Updated
10-2-2019
Department
Political Science
Academic Rank
Professor/Exec. V.P.
Year Retired from SJSU
1989
Educational Background
Stanford University, 1954 Ph.D.
UCLA, 1948 MA
UCLA, 1941 BA
Teaching Experience
San Jose State University, 1953-1989
University of Nevada (Reno), 1953-1953 (summer)
Stanford University, 1952-1953
University of Washington, 1951-1952
Stanford University, 1950-1951
University of Tennessee (Knoxville), 1947-1948
Administrative and Professional Experience
AUS (Reserve), 1941‑1971 (Col., Civil Affairs, Retired).
Advisory Board, USA Command & General Staff College, 1971‑1973, Chair, 1973.
City of Saratoga, Mayor, 1956‑1963; Councilor, 1964.
League of California Cities, Peninsula Division Pres., 1960‑1961; Chairman, Personnel Committee, 1963.
Univ. Admin.: Dept. Chair, Assoc. Dean (2), Acting Dean, EVP, 1965‑1983.
Selected Publications
A Citizen's Guide to California Government (Fearon: S.F., 1953), with S. L. Swagert.
"The 1950 Election in California," Western Political Quarterly.
"Notes on the Santa Clara Grand Jury," Santa Clara Lawyer.
Various papers and reviews.
Files
Personal Commentary
The best long‑term investment the Congress ever made was the GI Bill, which enabled me to finance graduate work, since I had a wife and two children at the beginning and four children at the end. Many others had the same chance, and the country is richer for it. I was deeply grateful, since I am the first and only one in my family to finish college and graduate school. All of my University mentors are dead now, but I hope they, too, are aware of my thanks.
Among my activities which do not fit the form, but which may be of interest to someone someday, are the following: at one time or another I have been a member (and often an officer) of the American Political Science Assoc., the Western Political Science Assoc., the No. Calif. Political Science Assoc., the Citizenship Clearing House, the Commonwealth Club, the Calif. Scholarship Federation, the Ephebian Society of Los Angeles, Pi Sigma Alpha, Pi Gamma Mu, Phi Kappa Phi (Distinguished Academic Achievement, 1977) the Reserve Officers Assoc., the Civil Affairs Assoc., the National Strategy Seminar of the Army War College, the Santa Clara County National Guard Commission, the Santa Clara County Trafficways Committee, the Inter‑City Council of Santa Clara County, the Board of Directors of County Sanitation District Four, the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation, the Saratoga Men's Club, the Spartan Foundation, the Montalvo Assoc., the San Jose State University Golf Club (President, 1990‑94), and various conservation organizations.
My active military service began in June 1941. After 8 months training recruits at the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Camp Roberts, CA, I joined the 4th Infantry Regiment at Fort Richardson, Alaska, with later duty at Adak, Attu (combat) and Ft. Lewis, WA. In January, 1944, the Regiment was sent to Ft. Benning, GA, to be School Troops at the Infantry School. After the war, I served 25 years in various Army Reserve assignments, including 20 years in Civil Affairs and as a faculty member and Commandant of the Sixth Army Intelligence School.
My good wife and I have survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the "War on Poverty," the "War on Drugs," the sexual revolution, the Reagan Revolution, the electronic revolution, the exponential growth of corporate and public bureaucracies, and earthquakes, pollution and congestion. We're still here, hoping our children and grandchildren can do better and more peacefully.
Date Completed: 9/96
Adapted from: Biographies of Retired Faculty San Jose State University 1997: A Project of the Emeritus Faculty Association of San Jose State University. San Jose, CA: The University, 1997.