TRI-C FACULTY PROFILE
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ANTOINE BROWN DID NOT LET EARLY CHALLENGES DEFINE HIM, AND HE DEMANDS THE SAME OF HIS STUDENTS If you’re looking for a reason not to do something, you’ll always find one,” says Antoine Brown. This expression is more than just a platitude to him — it’s a foundational principle. From where he sits now, the assistant professor of manufacturing and industrial engineering technology looks back on a life that began in project housing on the west side of Cleveland; a life populated with rough crowds. He remembers dropping out of high school and spending time in a correctional facility. 24
TRI-C TIMES
But Brown insisted that these things were not going to define him, and a new path began to open up when he found a full-time job in CNC machining. He suddenly had a steady income, and his life took on structure. Eventually, that job inspired him to go back to school. “One of my co-workers was attending classes at Tri-C, and he told me all about how he planned to use his degree. It sounded like a good step forward,” said Brown. His factory experience, coupled with a natural affinity for math and science, led him to the College’s mechanical engineering technology program. At 28, he was older than many college freshmen, but this did not intimidate him. On the contrary, those extra years of life experience gave him the tenacity he needed to complete not one, but three degrees: an Associate of Science from Tri-C, along with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cleveland State University. He accomplished all of this while working third shift at his machining job.
