Dr. Brosin was born in Blackwood, Virginia, attended St. Johns Military Academy, and received his M.D. from the University of Wisconsin (1933). He interned at the Cincinnati General Hospital (1933–34) and received the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship, serving a residency at the University of Colorado. In 1937, he moved to the University of Chicago as an instructor and also obtained a Rockefeller Fellowship to allow him to take psychoanalytic training at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis.
Dr. Brosin served him as a reserve army officer for some years, and the advent of World War II led him to active army duty in 1941. He was Chief of Psychiatry at Fort Custer, Michigan, LaGarde General Hospital, New Orleans, and Baltimore. He went on to serve as a first lieutenant and was discharged as a full colonel.
Dr. Brosin returned to the University of Chicago as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry (1946–51) and moved to the University of Pittsburg Medical School as Director of the Western Psychiatric Institute (1951–69). He moved to the University of Arizona as a Professor of Psychiatry. He has a long bibliography of publications, including ten book chapters and 160 articles.
Dr. Brosin was active in psychiatric organizations. He served as Director of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1953–61) and President, 1961; and member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (Secretary (1954-59), Vice President (1959-61), and President (1961–63). He was Chairman of the Committee on Education, the American Psychiatric Association (1953–58), and Representative to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1959–63). He was a member of the Association of Military Surgeons, the National Mental Health Association, the American Psychological Association, and other professional organizations. He represented the American Psychiatric Association in the advisory of medical sciences of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council.
Dr. Brosin received the Porter Award from the Association of Military Surgeons (1967) and the Bowis Award from the American College of Psychiatrists (1975).
Dr. Brosin was elected Vice President (1961–1962) and served as President of the American Psychiatric Association (1967–68).