Brent was a beloved educator who helped many high school students find culinary careers. He was fluent in Japanese and spent years studying and working in Japan. Brent's Passions included food, cooking, travelling and hot springs. He had deep and sustained friendships. His loves were all his "dawgs".
1982-1983
At a time when there were few foreigners living in Fukuoka, Japan. Brent anded Seinan Gakuin University as an exchange student from Baylor University. He studied Japanese language, history, culture, religion, and was a member of the Aikido Club. He traveled widely and made lifelong friends.
1987-1990
Brent started his two-year Japanese Ministry of Education Research Fellowship in 1987. The first six months of his journey landed him at Osaka University of Foreign Studies where he completed an intensive Japanese language program designed to prepare him for research in Political Science. He completed his fellowship at Osaka University where he focused his studies on Japanese-American Relations. Along with a commitment to his research, Brent always found time to explore Japan and its culture, make new friends and indulge in his passion for travel.
Upon completing his research fellowship, Brent moved to Tokyo and joined the International Institute for Global Peace in 1989, a think tank created by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. In his two-years spent collaborating with international scholars and leaders on a diverse slate of global initiatives, Brent worked alongside some of the leading minds of the day. But he also found time to continue his exploration of Japan and grow his passion for Japanese culinary arts- rounding out four years of study, work and a lot of fun in Japan.
Brent arrived at the RAND Graduate School (RGS), based in Santa Monica, CA, collocated within the RAND Corporation in July 1991 to join the RGS Cohort of 1991. As a PhD student, he successfully completed his qualifying exams in August of 1993 and earned an ABD in 1996. He worked and studied at RAND through 1997 on several very interesting mixed-methods projects in the areas of international economies focusing on Japan, education and training issues, and strategic policy issues. During his tenure at RAND, he contributed substantially to several projects and RAND reports including a project for the Office of the Secretary of Defense resulting in a 1993 RAND report on sexual orientation and U.S. military personnel policy and a 1994 RAND Critical Technologies Institute project concerning the decline of the U.S. machine-tool industry and prospects for its sustainable recovery. Brent also first authored a 1995 RAND report titled, “Education Reform in Los Angeles County Schools, a Descriptive Survey" prepared for the RAND Institute on Education and Training.