FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                    April 28, 2008

DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE ADAIR BROWN TO DELIVER COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT NORTHWESTERN

            A distinguished graduate from the class of 1970 and a successful entrepreneur and businessman will deliver the keynote address to graduates at Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s 109th Spring Commencement ceremony.

            Adair Brown, founder of the Adair Group, Inc., a Denver-based construction company, will speak to graduates during the ceremony that begins at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 3, at Ranger Field. More than 230 graduates are expected to receive bachelor or masters degrees.

            Brown founded the Adair Group in 1992 as a family-owned business after working for 11 years as a project and division manager for a large general contractor in the Denver area.

            Adair Group builds along the Front Range of Colorado and in many mountain resort communities, with annual volume of $40 to 60 million. Adair Brown supports the company on a daily basis, but the primary responsibility for the company’s management now belongs to his son Roger, also a Northwestern graduate,

            The company has been named by the Denver Business Journal as one of the fastest-growing, privately-owned companies in Colorado and has been listed as one of Colorado’s top 50 companies for six consecutive years.

            A graduate of Alva High School, Brown began learning the construction business from his parents, Robert R. and Dorothy Brown, who owned a lumber yard and were home builders.

            While in Alva, Brown met his wife of 42 years, Susan (Ware), a 1968 graduate of Northwestern, and the couple raised three children, Roger, Randy and Julie. All three attended Northwestern. They also have five grandchildren.

            The Browns have given countless hours to the Miss America Organization through the Miss Kansas and Miss Colorado pageants. Today, the couple spends time between homes in Palm Springs, Calif., Denver, and Fox Acres Country Club in northern Colorado.

-NW-

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