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BRAD TILLSON TO BE SALUTED FOR VOLUNTEERISM

DAYTON
September 28, 2003

Perhaps the most-seen face during the past year's Inventing Flight celebrations was not Wilbur or Orville, but their friend Brad.

As chairman of the program and a member of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, Cox Ohio Publishing chief executive officer and Dayton Daily News publisher John Bradford Tillson Jr. has been everywhere they cut a ribbon, unveiled a sculpture, figured budgets and greeted visitors to Dayton. Now it's his turn.

Tillson, 58, has been named 2003 recipient of the Citizen Legion of Honor Award, given by the Presidents Club of Dayton to the region's outstanding community volunteer leader. As the 54th winner, Tillson and his family will be guests of honor at a luncheon Oct. 16 at the Dayton Convention Center, according to club president Robert Duffy.

The Presidents Club was founded in 1932 to encourage volunteer participation through the region's local service clubs. Its top award, the Citizen Legion of Honor, has been given since 1951.

Tillson came to Dayton in 1971 as a reporter for the Daily News . He became an assistant city editor in 1977 and editor in September 1984. He served as publisher from June 1988 until 1996, when Cox Newspapers formed Cox Ohio Publishing and named Tillson CEO and publisher of the Daily News . Cox Ohio Publishing has 1,700 employees and annual revenue of $165 million.

Tillson's volunteer leadership included positions with the Miami Valley Economic Development coalition, Ohio Newspaper Association, Dayton Business Committee, Downtown Dayton Partnership and Dayton Dialogue on Race Relations. He is a past president of the Dayton Art Institute and chaired its $24 million capital campaign. He is past chairman of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton and Montgomery County Alliance for Education.

Tillson is married to the former Cynthia Wornom and they live in Kettering. He has a son, John, in Denver, a daughter, Karen Ketterer, in Sacramento, Calif., and three grandchildren. The publisher, who plans to retire at year's end, said volunteerism began at home.

Tillson says his parents, Frances and John Tillson, "taught my two brothers and me that we have an obligation to give back to communities and institutions. They practiced it, and I'm just emulating them."

He said his employer, Cox Enterprises Inc., encourages employees to be involved in their communities and that Dayton has been "a very open and welcoming town that makes it easy for people to get involved in community activities."

Last year's Citizen Legion of Honor award winner was the late Anne Sawyer Greene, a philanthropist who died May 23 at age 83. Coincidentally, Tillson was keynote speaker at the award luncheon the day Mrs. Greene was honored. He called her a role model.

"There have been many other role models for me in Dayton," Tillson says. "They include my predecessors at the newspaper, David Easterly, Jay Smith and Dennis Shere, and people like Virginia Kettering, Dave Ponitz, Burnell Roberts, Brother Ray Fitz, Judge Walter Rice and many others."

The public may attend the award luncheon at 11 a.m. Oct. 16. Tickets are $24. Call Mike Sadauskas at 226-1444 no later than Oct. 14.

Contact:

Julie Breissinger
Carter Ryley Thomas
Public Relations & Marketing
804.675.8167



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