John William Brean '51 (non-degree) was a graduate of Northeastern University. During World War II, MIT increased its recruitment of women and black research staff for service at the Radiation Laboratory and other wartime emergency units. Brean worked as a technician in the Rad Lab's DIV 9, Airborne Systems, during which he participated in a 1944 Pentagon Demonstration of radar plot bombing technique. He was promoted to staff member after the war.