Brigham McCown keynote speaker for 10th annual Frank J. McCown Lecture Series

Courage was the theme of the 10th annual Frank J. McCown Lecture Series Veterans Day Tribute at the Ohio University Southern Bowman Auditorium on Thursday.

The Honorable Frank J. McCown Lecture Series began after the common pleas judge died from leukemia on May 16, 2007, and is about remembering all of the men and women who have served, or are serving this country.

McCown was a supporter of the military and veterans.

The program began with the Paul G. Blazer High School Junior ROTC presenting the colors before Laura Miles, U.S. Navy veteran (2002-2012) and disabled veteran outreach specialist for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, sang the national anthem led the Pledge of Allegiance.

The program continued with Ohio University Southern Dean, Nicole Pennington, giving a welcome and the Ironton High School Varsity Singers performing. OUS associate professor Ella McCown Jones then introduced the keynote speaker, Brigham McCown, U.S. Navy, Retired, and the son of Frank J. McCown.

Brigham McCown is an Ironton native, and has had many positions, including military officer, Naval aviator, federal agency head, attorney, business entrepreneur, public policy expert and philanthropist.

He is a retired Naval aviator who holds commissions in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Maritime Administration. He served the country for three decades on active and active reserve duty on six continents, participating in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Restore Democracy (Haiti), Operation Unified Assistance (SE Asia Tsunami relief), and has advised many Defense Department leaders. He oversaw the country’s energy and hazardous materials transportation as the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration during both terms of the George W. Bush administration as well. Currently, he serves as the Chairman and CEO of Nouveau, Inc., national consulting and advisory firm, co-managing shareholder of the Kilgore McCown law firm, and serves as Chairman of the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, a Washington D.C. non-profit think tank he founded, in addition to serving on the program council for the annual Warsaw Security Forum in Poland.

He talked about returning back to Ironton, how growing up in Ironton has made him who he is today, how to make a difference in the world and the importance of remembering and honoring the nation’s veterans.

“Veterans Day provides us a golden opportunity to recall the sacrifices all of our veterans have made,” he said. “God Bless our veterans.”