William Lee Lyons Brown Jr. (August 2, 1936 – June 9, 2024) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S.
He was also the CEO and Honorary Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Chair of the World Monuments Fund.
A graduate of the University of Virginia and the American Graduate School of International Management (now called Thunderbird School of Global Management), he was the president, chairman, CEO, and a director of the Brown-Forman Corporation, founded by his great-grandfather.
He served on the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations as an appointee under three Presidents: Ronald Reagan (1988), George H.W.
[1][3] Brown was made a Chevalier de L'Ordre du Merite Agricole by the French government in 1974.