J. Bradford Tillson

Chair of Inventing Flight

He serves on The U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission Commission in his capacity as chair of Inventing Flight, a Dayton-based organization planning a series of activities celebrating the centennial of powered flight in 2003.

Tillson is a native of Paris, Texas, but grew up mostly in New Bedford, Massachusetts.He graduated from the Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1962 and received his bachelor of arts degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 1966. Tillson served in the United States Navy from 1966 until 1969 including three tours with Commander, Carrier Division One, in the Vietnam War Zone. After two years as a reporter with the Charlotte (N.C.) News, Tillson joined the Dayton Daily News in 1971.He held a variety of reporting and editing positions and was named Editor of the newspaper in 1984 and Publisher in 1988. He was named President and CEO of Cox Ohio Publishing in 1996. Cox Ohio Publishing has annual revenues of more than $130 million, more than 1,400 employees and includes the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and two distribution companies.It is owned by Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers.In addition to Inventing Flight, Tillson serves as chair of the Miami Valley Economic Development Coalition and treasurer of the Ohio Newspaper Association.He is a past chair of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and The Dayton Art Institute.

Tillson is married to the former Cynthia Wornom.He has two children, a son John living in Colorado and a daughter Karen living in Michigan.