Gavin Brown AO FAA CorrFRSE (27 February 1942 – 25 December 2010)[1] was a Scottish-born mathematician and long-serving Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sydney between 1996 and 2008.

After attending secondary school at Madras College in St Andrews, Brown graduated with a Master of Arts degree (1st Class Honours and the Duncan Medal) from the University of St Andrews (1963), and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1966).

Brown accepted the Chair of Pure Mathematics at the University of New South Wales in 1975 and he and his family emigrated to Australia.

During this time, he was awarded the Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize and the Australian Mathematical Society Medal.

His research areas were broad, including harmonic analysis, measure theory and algebraic geometry.