About Inductee

To say former Butler High School wrestling champion Steve Brown has led an interesting and varied life would be a classic understatement. At 59, Browns current job is Associate Commissioner for Administrative Services with the Alabama Department of Corrections in Montgomery; meaning hes responsible for administrative personnel, finance, procurement, information systems, communications, food service and correctional industries in the state prison system. Its a second career for Brown, who spent 30 years as an Air Force personnel officer after receiving a commission through ROTC at Auburn University following graduation in 1973. He retired as a Colonel in 2003. His military career included assignments in California, England, Arizona, the AF Personnel Center in San Antonio, Colorado, the Pentagon, Virginia, Hawaii and Florida. Brown, son of a military career officer, was born Sept. 24, 1951 at Fort Hood, Texas. He has two brothers, Mike and Greg, who both live in Florida. In 1966, Browns parents, the late Clark and Bert Brown, moved to Huntsville when his father went to work for NASA. Brown was a mainstay of the Butler wrestling team under coaches Glynn Stowe and Doug Styles from 1967-69, finishing third at 145 pounds in the Alabama 4A state championship in 1968. As a senior, he won the North Alabama Invitational at 180 pounds and was voted the MVP of the tournament. He also finished second at 165 pounds in the Red Bank Invitational and first in the 4A state championship. Wrestling at 177 pounds for Hall of Fame coach Arnold Swede Umbach at Auburn, Brown won the SEC Championship in 1970 and finished second in the SEC the following year. He won the Southeastern Intercollegiate and finished third in the SEC the next year, and won the SEIWA title and took third in the SEC as a senior in 1973. He wrestled on the U.S. All Air Force team from 1975-77, winning a silver medal in interservice freestyle at 180 pounds in 1976 and a gold medal in Greco-Roman style at 198 pounds in 1977. Brown is married to his high school sweetheart, Butler graduate Marijane Dodd. They have two children: Auburn graduate Amanda, a nurse in Phoenix, and UAB graduate Clark Brown, a former Alabama state amateur golf champion who now plays on the mini-tours. The top memory of Steve Browns athletic career was winning the SEC championship as a freshman. He also remembers wrestling his brother Greg, who went to Alabama, twice in college dual meets. I beat him fairly easily the first time, Brown said, but it took a takedown with seconds left to win the second time. He didnt speak to me for quite a whiie.