Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. is an American retired politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and from 2011 to 2019. In 1974, he was elected Governor and reelected in 1978. Brown ran several campaigns for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. presidency, and after his governorship, led delegations to China and the Soviet Union. In 1998, Brown returned to elected office as Oakland’s mayor, and eight years later, was elected California’s Attorney General. He won a third term as Governor in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. Under Governor Brown, California has forged aggressive climate pacts with world leaders; established the most ambitious emission reduction target in North America; and committed to double the rate of energy efficiency savings in buildings, generate half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources and reduce petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent by 2030 – all while continuing to grow the economy. Brown studied at the Santa Clara University before entering a Jesuit seminary in 1956. In 1960, he left the seminary and earned a B.A. in Classics at UC Berkeley and a J.D. from Yale Law School.