Pace University Names Terryl Brown Vice President and General Counsel

Most Recently Led Legal Affairs at FDNY

Terryl Brown, an attorney with extensive legal, leadership, and management experience in city and state government, has been named vice president and general counsel for Pace University.

Brown, a Pace graduate, most recently served as deputy commissioner of legal affairs and administration for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), where she oversaw operations and legal matters for a department comprised of 17,000 employees.

Over the course of her impressive legal career, Brown has also been chief ethics officer and counsel with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, acting counsel to Governor David Paterson, first assistant counsel to Governor Eliot Spitzer, a commissioner of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, executive vice president and general counsel at the New York Power Authority, and a partner Harris Beach PLLC.

In making the announcement, Pace President Marvin Krislov cited Brown’s extensive background working on an array of legal matters and administrative oversight involving large and complex agencies; her experience in city and state government; and her understanding of the university’s mission of Opportunitas or creating opportunities for students.

“Terryl Brown’s accomplished career in law and government exemplifies what it means to make an impact on the world through her hard work and excellence,” said President Krislov. “She embodies our mission and philosophy of creating opportunities for our diverse student body, and we are pleased we’ll be able to benefit from her insight and expertise.”

In her role, Brown will be a key member of the president’s leadership team and as leader of the Office of University Counsel will manage all legal matters for the University and its campuses in New York City, Pleasantville, and White Plains. She begins May 1, 2023.

“I am committed to Pace University’s mission and believe in the transformative power of education,” said Brown. “Pace's values are consistent with my own, and I'm looking forward to helping Pace continue its important and transformative work.”

A native New Yorker, Brown graduated from Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in political science; earned a master’s from Villanova University; and a JD and MBA from University of Pittsburgh. She completed an advanced finance program at the University of Pennsylvania.

She is a member of the state bar of New York and holds court admissions with U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.