Gehr Brown was born in 1946, Norwalk, graduating from Brien McMahon High School in 1964. He received a B.B.A. degree in accountancy practice from Pace University in 1968 and an M.B.A. in financial management from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1970.
Gehr joined Haskins & Sells in 1970 and in 1975 became a senior financial analyst with Warnaco, Inc. He later joined Cadbury Schweppes, USA, and served in several financial management positions before being named chief financial officer for Peter Paul Cadbury, Naugatuck, Conn.
He also was chief financial officer, Mona Industries, Inc., Paterson, New Jersey. In 2001, he joined Fuji Film Medical Systems U.S.A., Stamford, Conn., as a consultant, retiring in 2012. Gehr is a member of the Financial Executives International, the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs.
He and his wife Joanne live in Darien and have one adult daughter. His interests include sports, sports memorabilia collecting, music and jazz guitar in particular.