By Lynn Ingram
The State Bar of Michigan is mourning the passing of Nancy F. Brown, a beloved leader and colleague whose presence shaped the organization for five decades. For staff, members, and the many people who worked alongside her across generations, Nancy’s death on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, is not only a professional loss, it’s deeply personal.
This year, Nancy was celebrating 50 years of service to the State Bar of Michigan, making her the longest-serving employee in SBM history. Over that span, she became one of the Bar’s most enduring figures, known for her high standards, her wise counsel, and her loyalty to the institution and to the people who do its work every day.
Executive Director Peter Cunningham said Nancy’s influence was felt across the organization, but also in the quiet moments when decisions had to be made and problems had to be solved.
“Although it may sound like a cliché, Nancy truly was my rock,” Cunningham said. “No matter the circumstance, she provided steady, reliable counsel.”
In just a few words, Cunningham captured what so many at the Bar came to rely on.
“Nancy was tireless in her commitment to making the Bar better,” he said. “Her influence is woven into the fabric of the State Bar, and it will continue to be felt for many years to come.”
A Lasting Legacy
Nancy began her career at the State Bar of Michigan in 1976, starting as Assistant Editor of the Michigan Bar Journal and later serving as Editor, a role she held for 30 years. From the beginning, she was the kind of professional who didn’t simply complete assignments, but instead raised the standard for how the work should be done. Over time, her responsibilities expanded in a way that reflected her unique value to the organization. She didn’t just grow with the Bar, she became part of its institutional backbone.
Over nearly five decades of service, Nancy held an extraordinary range of roles, touching almost every part of the State Bar’s operations. Her career advanced through senior leadership positions in publications and communications, including Senior Director of Publications, Assistant Executive Director for Publications, and Communications Division Director.
In later years, she served as Member Services & Communications Division Director, and then Assistant Executive Director, Public and Bar Services, overseeing teams responsible for critical functions including technical services, membership services, law practice management, lawyer referral, lawyer services and outreach, the Diversity Development Program, and the Lawyers & Judges Assistance Program. She currently served as Senior Management Advisor, offering the kind of calm judgment and perspective that only comes from decades of earned trust.
Cunningham noted that the State Bar was established in 1935, and that Nancy worked at SBM for more than half of its existence.
“During that time, she left her mark on nearly every aspect of the organization,” he said. “Much of what the Bar does today was either initiated by Nancy, improved by her, or shaped by her ideas and guidance.”
Nancy’s legacy is not confined to a title or a department. It lives in the systems she helped build, the work she strengthened, and the expectations she set, which are grounded in the belief that the Bar should always strive to serve Michigan attorneys and the public better than it did yesterday.
An Amazing Human Being
For all of Nancy’s titles and accomplishments, those who knew her best describe a person whose influence was felt most powerfully at the human level. She had a rare ability to see someone’s potential before they could see it themselves, and then to insist, with equal parts honesty and care, that they rise to meet it.
Best friend and longtime colleague Mo Hastings said Nancy led in a way that made people feel both challenged and supported.
“She had a knack for seeing the best in people, even when they couldn’t see it themselves,” Hastings said.
For the people who worked for her, that belief wasn’t abstract.
Hastings recalled that Nancy regularly asked a simple, disarming question: “What can I do to support you? How can I help you succeed?”
That combination of direct standards paired with genuine kindness was a signature of Nancy’s presence at the Bar. She was candid when candor was needed, not because she enjoyed confrontation, but because she believed the work mattered and the people doing it mattered, too. She could tell you the truth and still make you feel safe enough to keep going.
Hastings also said that behind Nancy’s professionalism was a warmth many people only saw once they were close to her.
“Something people may not know about Nancy is that she was hilarious,” Hastings said. “She loved to laugh, she loved to love.”
It’s part of why the news of her passing has landed so heavily across the State Bar community. Nancy was admired for what she did and cherished for who she was.
An Enduring Force
Some people leave an organization with memories. Nancy left it with momentum. She was the person others relied on when the work had to be right and when the next step needed to be clear. Her influence reached beyond any single title because she had a gift for seeing what the Bar could become and then helping it move in that direction.
Cunningham said Nancy combined deep experience with a rare openness to change.
“One of Nancy’s greatest strengths was her deep institutional knowledge, but she was never stuck in the past,” Cunningham said. “She was constantly thinking about new and innovative ways for the Bar to better serve attorneys and the public.”
Even after witnessing decades of change, he said, “Nancy was never afraid to try something new.”
That is why her absence feels so large now. Nancy may no longer be here to guide the work day to day, but the work she shaped will remain. The Bar will keep moving forward, in part because Nancy spent nearly 50 years making sure it could.
As Cunningham put it, her influence will continue to be felt for decades to come.
Nancy will be remembered as a leader who gave her heart and soul to the Bar, who held nearly every kind of responsibility one can hold within an organization, and who helped build a culture of high standards paired with real support.
Hastings said the reach of Nancy’s impact was bigger than Nancy may have understood.
“She was loved by so many people and I don’t think she knew the half of it,” Hastings said. “She will be profoundly missed.”
Information about memorial services will be shared here when it becomes available.
Posted: January 30, 2026