Lisa J. Brown (born October 9, 1956) is an American politician and educator serving as the director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. A member of the Democratic Party, Brown has served in both houses of the Washington State Legislature, including eight years as the first Democratic female majority leader of the Washington State Senate. She has also served as the chancellor of Washington State University Spokane, a position she stepped down from in order to mount an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House. Born and raised in Illinois, she received her undergraduate education from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Brown spent over three decades in higher education teaching economics at Eastern Washington University and in the organizational leadership program at Gonzaga University. She was appointed the first female Chancellor of Washington State University, Spokane in 2013 and served in that role until 2017. Brown first entered politics in 1992 when she was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives. She was elected to the State Senate in 1996 and elected as the first female Democratic Majority Leader of that body in 2005. She returned to politics in 2018, running to represent against Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Brown was considered a dark horse candidate and the race received national attention, though Brown lost. In 2019, Governor Jay Inslee appointed her director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. She declined a run for Mayor of Spokane in 2019. In 2023, Brown announced her intention to resign as director, effective March 3. Early life and education Lisa J. Brown was born October 9, 1956, in Robinson, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in economics. She earned a master's degree and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Career Outside of politics, Brown worked in higher education and public leadership positions as a professor, a university administrator and she is currently the director of the Washington State Department of Commerce. Brown began working as an associate professor of economics at Eastern Washington University in 1981, a position she would hold until 2001. She served briefly as the interim director of the university's Women's Center in 1983. While on sabbatical from Eastern Washington University in 1990, Lisa traveled to Nicaragua where she participated as an election observer at a Nicaraguan election