Harold Brown, U.S. defence chief who built, then strove to contain nuclear weapons, dies at 91

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Defense Harold Brown in an undated photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense. Brown served as the Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. Courtesy U.S. Defense Department/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Harold Brown, an advocate of nuclear arms control who as President Jimmy Carter's defence secretary tried but failed to win U.S. Senate approval of a key treaty with the Soviet Union, has died at age 91, the think tank where he worked said.

Brown, a native New Yorker, was the first scientist to take the helm of the large and complex U.S. military establishment. He was a physicist who received his bachelor's degree at age 18 and his doctorate at 22. Brown spent his professional life initially developing nuclear weapons and then later striving to control them.