Feb. 3, 2022 Vice Admiral David Brewer (Ret)
Hybrid Meeting Feb. 3, 2022
Vice Admiral David L. Brewer III was born in Farmville, Va., and raised in Orlando.
His distinguished naval career began in 1970 when he was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy. He was a member of the first graduating class of the first Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit established by the U.S. Navy at a historically black university, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Tex.
He served for over 35 years in the United States Navy. During his distinguished naval career, he commanded two ships, the USS Bristol County (LST 1189) and the USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). During these two command tours, his ships won numerous awards for combat efficiency and community service. As a flag officer (admiral), he held numerous positions, including Commander, Amphibious Group Three, with 17,000 Sailors and a group of 17 ships, and Commander, Military Sealift Command (MSC), with a fleet of over 120 ships. During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, his MSC fleet delivered over 8 billion gallons of fuel and over 14 million square feet of combat cargo to U.S. and allied fighting forces. This logistics movement was the largest since World War II.
In 2006, Vice Admiral Brewer was honored with the Naval War College’s Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award – 10th recipient in the history of the War College in 2006; the Navy League of the United States Vincent T. Hirsch Maritime Award; the National Defense Transportation Association’s Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award; and, numerous other military and civilian awards.
After his retirement from the Navy, he was selected as the 46th Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District where he served from November 2006 to December 2008. Under his leadership, the District had its highest academic gains in over five years, after four years of declining academic gains. and increased graduation rates from 67% to 72% in one year.During his tenure as Superintendent, LAUSD, he was honored with many awards.
He continues to serve the youth of our nation as a national board member of Read to a Child, a national literacy and one-on-one mentorship program for elementary schoolchildren. He is President of the Jones High School (JHS) Foundation in Orlando Florida. Under his leadership, the JHS Foundation has raised over $350,000 in the last five years. He is also Chairman of the 100 Black Men of Greater Orlando’s Project Success college prep program at JHS. 100 Black Men has awarded over $1.5M in college scholarships to JHS students. He has been appointed to the Board of Trustees at Bethune-Cookman University. He is also the chairman of the Orange County Research & Development Board and the West Lakes Partnership community board.
He is the recipient of the Onyx Magazine state of Florida’s 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Vice Admiral Brewer has been married to Dr. Richardene “Deanie” Brewer for 44 years. “Deanie” is a retired educator, who has taught in school districts in Virginia and California. They have one daughter, Stacey Brewer, who is a lawyer.