The 2025 Tower of Fame recipient has been announced.

Tower of Fame Chair Carole Custer says Michael Brady is being honored for his inventions and innovations that have led to some of the most well-used items today. According to the Tower of Fame Committee, the 1961 Jefferson High School graduate is a chemical engineer that holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a doctorate degree from Oregon State University, who is recognized for making 3M products such as Post It Notes and Scotch Tape possible, along with creating the glass for cell phones and cellular ceramics for automotive catalytic converters from Corning. 

The committee states that in the late 1980s, Brady was also instrumental in leading a laboratory in Italy for developing a new line of diagnostic and mammographic films and screens that are now standard in the industries worldwide. He is also credited with making high quality products at the lowest price, while having the least waste and lowest energy consumption. Brady holds more than 20 patents globally.

The Tower of Fame Committee says Brady helped to establish the National Science Foundation Coating Center of Excellence at the University of Minnesota and the Microelectronics Center at ISU. He is also a member of the ISU Chemical and Biological Engineering Hall of Fame and the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame. He serves on the OSU Chemical Engineering Industry Advisory Board and is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Chemical Society and The Radiological Society of North America.

Brady will be officially recognized as this year’s Tower of Fame winner at the Opening Ceremonies of the Bell Tower Festival on Friday at 6:30pm on the south plaza of the Greene County Courthouse, with a public reception to follow.