Dr. Brown is now retired and is Professor Emeritus of Equine Studies at Centenary University, Hackettstown, NJ, USA. Born in England, Octavia Brown emigrated to the US in 1964. She earned her Master of Education from Harvard University and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2008 by Centenary University. A founder of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (now PATH International) in 1969, she is a PATH Master Instructor and a certified Special Olympics coach. Dr. Brown founded the first New Jersey EAS program and was co-founder of the first state organization in the US for EAS. Dr. Brown is past president of the FRDI (now HETI) and has presented at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. She is the author of numerous papers and textbook chapters on EAS. She has served on numerous committees and task forces locally, nationally and internationally. In 1998 she received PATH’s James Brady Award for Lifetime Achievement in Therapeutic Riding. Among other awards, in 2022 she received the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Equus Foundation and US Equestrian Federation.
