 In 2009 "Houston Woman Magazine" voted Brown one of the city's most influential women.She has also received teaching awards, including the Graduate College of Social Work's Outstanding Faculty Award.In 2016 the Huffington Foundation pledged $2 million over four years to endow a research chair in her name at the Graduate College of Social Work, where she guides the training of social work students in grounded theory methodology and in her research into vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy.