The National Western Stock Show has named Peter H. Coors its 2011 Citizen of the West. He will accept the prestigious award at a dinner on Monday, January 10, 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel in Denver. Net proceeds from this event go to support 74 annual scholarships awarded by the National Western Scholarship Trust. The Citizen of the West, selected by a committee of community leaders, is an annual award given to individuals who embody the spirit and determination of the western pioneer, and who are committed to perpetuating the West’s agricultural heritage and ideals.
Pete Coors, a Colorado native, is chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of MillerCoors. His professional career in the brewing business follows a Coors tradition that has spanned more than a century and five generations of Coors family members. Pete has been an outstanding example of his family’s dedication to Colorado. As Nancy Petry, whose husband Nick was Citizen of the West in 1986 says, “Pete Coors stands tall in shaping the interests and growth of Denver and the West with his own brand of leadership and values”.
He graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., in 1965, attended Cornell University where he received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1969. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Denver in 1970. He also has received honorary doctorates from Regis University in 1991, Wilberforce University in 1992, and Johnson & Wales University in 1997.
Pete is president of the University of Colorado Hospital and Energy Corporation of America. He is president and a trustee of the Adolph Coors Foundation and the Castle Rock Foundation. His numerous and diverse civic responsibilities include serving as a trustee and member of the executive board of the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, a member of the National Western Stock Show Association executive committee, Johnson and Wales University Corporation and the Denver Art Museum Foundation.
Examples of the Coors family philanthropy are everywhere in Colorado. Jerry McMorris, Chairman of the National Western Stock Show, says “without Pete, the Rockies and Coors Field would not be here. Our state, region and country are better because of Pete Coors and the leadership he has provided. He is a true Citizen of the West.”
In addition to his civic endeavors, Pete is an avid outdoorsman. Active in wildlife conservation, he serves on the boards of several conservation groups. Peter is currently a national trustee and also is a former national president and chairman of Ducks Unlimited.
Pete and his wife, Marilyn, have 6 children and 7 grandchildren. He’s the son of Joseph and Holly Coors and great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the Golden brewery in 1873.
