Leimu-Brown was born on 4 December 1962 in
Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England.[4] He completed the
International Baccalaureate at UWC Atlantic College in Wales from 1979 to 1981.[5] He then studied geography at the
University of Cambridge (
Churchill College) between .[4][5] From 1986 to 1990 he studied for a DPhil in Forest Ecology under the supervision of
Timothy Charles Whitmore at the University of Oxford (Linacre College).[5][6] His thesis was entitled "Dipterocarp regeneration in tropical rain forest gaps of different sizes".[7] He has also completed a diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.[8]
Since 2014 he has been a
Commonwealth Scholarship Commissioner acting as chair of awards policy committee.[3]
Since 2015 he has been the chair of the University of Oxford buildings and estates sub-committee and serves on the planning and resource allocation committee of council.[12][13] He also chairs the
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and the
Science Area Advisory Boards.[14][15]
Amidst a global climate crisis and whilst many institutes divest from fossil fuel funds, Nick Brown was unsuccessful in 2022 into moving private fossil fuel funds subject to a high court lawsuit, in a deal alleged to be corrupt,[16] to change the academic nature of the college, including name, away from its values of environmentalism and gender equality. [17] The event generated substantial international criticism and attention.[18][19]
^"Nick Brown". ResearchGate. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
^"Dr ND Brown". People. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. February 2014. Archived from
the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.