On November 9, 1911 Elmer Ellsworth Brown (1861-1934) became the seventh Chancellor of New York University. The previous Chancellor, Henry Mitchell MacCracken, had been working towards changing NYU from a small educational institution to a modern University. Brown was Chancellor during a significant growth in student enrollment, changed the structure of schools within the University, and was present during the challenges to NYU brought by the first World War and its effects on the city and economy.

During the first decades of the century, NYU expanded its academic offerings and physical space. By the end of Brown's tenure, NYU had expanded from three floors in the Main Building, to occupying ten buildings around Washington Square. New academic buildings and athletic facilities increased the Heights campus to 50 acres. Numerous colleges were organized under Brown including Washington Square College, Graduate School of Business Administration, School of Retailing, College of Dentistry, School of Aeronautics, and the College of Fine Arts. Other divisions, notably the School of Education, were reorganized.

During this time, NYU had become one of the largest universities in the country in terms of student numbers. America's entry into the First World War in 1917 affected student enrollment and a wartime economy strained the budget of the University. NYU's agreement to receive branches of the Student Army Training Corps at the University Heights campus and at the Medical College fufilled the University's need to meet its public responsibility and helped to save the school from financial ruin.