Mr. Abbott is currently Mayor of the city of Palos Verdes Estates, California. He was elected to the City Council in 2003. He previously served on the city’s Planning Commission and Financial Advisory Committee. Earlier he was a member of a Special Citizens’ Committee to support Police/Fire/Paramedic services. He has served the community and school district to conduct demographic and environmental impact analyses of area schools. Mr. Abbott serves as a board member of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District, and the LAX Community Noise Roundtable.
Dwight Abbott retired as General Manager, Systems Engineer ing Division, The Aerospace Corporation in March 200. He was em ployed by Aerospace for nearly 40 years after joining the company as an original employee at its founding in 1960. He was appointed to this General Manager position in 1997.
The Aerospace Corporation is a nonprofit organization provid ing engineering support to Air Force programs and national security space systems. The corporation also provides scientific and engineer ing services to other government agencies and corporations involved in advanced space systems programs. The Systems Engineering Division, with over 150 engineering specialists, provides engineering services to essentially all Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office space pro grams.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Abbott was General Manager, Business Management, Space Technology Applications, where he devel oped business in the emerging civil and commercial space fields.
From 1990 to 1992 Mr. Abbott was Principal Director, Design Engineering Subdivision, where he developed and conducted a corpo rate-wide concurrent engineering training course. He directed the cor porate Advanced Launch System Program from 1987 to 1990. Previ ously, Mr. Abbott served as Principal Director of Space Transportation Development, Space Launch Operations, and Principal Engineer in the Mission Development and Applications Office undertaking various re sponsibilities in Space Shuttle-payload integration.
In 1975 Mr. Abbott relocated from Los Angeles to Washing ton, D.C. to assist in opening a new office in Germantown, Maryland where he served until 1982 as Principal Director of the Environment and Conservation Directorate. This office provided engineering services in energy and environmental systems that were in demand during the national energy crisis of the mid-1970s.
Prior to 1975 Abbott was Director of Advanced Projects in the Development Planning Division where he was responsible for several advanced systems planning studies conducted for the U.S. Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agen cy. Previously he served in offices at San Bernardino, California in bal listic missile planning and analysis and at the Los Angeles headquarters in propulsion systems analysis. Mr. Abbott holds a patent on a rocket engine thrust vector control device.
Before joining Aerospace in 1960, Abbott was associated with the Space Technology Laboratories from 1959 to 1960 and the Northrop Corporation from 1958 to 1959 where he worked on the T-38, the na tion’s first supersonic trainer aircraft.
Abbott earned a BS degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in 1958 and an MS in industrial administration from the Krannert Graduate School at Purdue University in 1965. He has served on the Visiting Committee to the Dean of the Schools of Engi neering at Purdue. While attending Purdue he was elected to the Gim let Club, Chief Justice of the Student Court, Student Senate Executive Council, And Vice president and Treasure of Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Dwight was appointed to the Aeronautics and Space Engineer ing Board of the National Research Council, the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, serving for ten years on its national Public Policy Committee. He also is a mem ber of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Planetary Society. He has served as the Aerospace Cor poration representative to the Corporate Advisory Board of INCOSE, the International Council on Systems Engineering, and the NDIA, National Defense Industrial Association.
Mr. Abbott now resides in Palos Verdes Estates, California with his wife, Janet. They have two adult sons, Steven (attorney/investment banker) and Douglas (orthopedic surgeon), and five grandchildren. Mr. Abbott’s avocation is aviation; he is a private pilot.
“My fond memories of Kappa Sigma can best be summed up as a learned appreciation for the “Brotherhood.” The appreciation I gained for the brotherhood translates today to an appreciation for, and desire for, community involvement. Would I now be involved with my community as mayor and councilman had I experienced Purdue as a “geek” engineer in the dorms? It’s doubtful. My diploma states that my education came from Purdue, but perhaps Kappa Sigma should be there in parenthesis.” – Dwight Abbott ’55
