 At Oxford University, Brown was university lecturer in Soviet institutions from 1971 until 1989, when he became professor of politics.He held that position from 1989 to 2005.Concurrently, he was a sub-warden of St Antony's College between 1995 and 1997 and director of the Russian and East European Centre twice (from 1991 to 1994, and again from 1998 to 2001).