Howard Hughes Memorial Award Goes to Northrop Grumman Chair

Northrop Grumman Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kent Kresa (below, right) will be honored with the 2002 Howard Hughes Memorial Award(HHMA) by the Aero Club of Southern California at a gala banquet at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles tonight.

Mr. Kresa is being recognized for his significant contributions to the advancement of aviation and space technology, and is the 24th recipient of this prestigious award. The first award, in 1978, was presented to the legendary Jack Northrop.

Expected to attend the event are seven former honorees -- Jack Real (Hughes), Tom Jones (Northrop), Allen Puckett (Hughes), Paul MacCready (Aerovironment), John Brizendine (Douglas and Lockheed), Willis Hawkins (Lockheed) and Sam Iacobellis (Rockwell). In addition, John Northrop (son of Jack Northrop) and Nancy Conrad (wife of Peter Conrad) will be in attendance. (Other former honorees include Jimmy Doolittle, Pat Hyland, Bob Six, Kelly Johnson, Chuck Yeager, Ed Heinemann, Barry Goldwater, Allen Paulson, Si Ramo, Ben Rich, Clifton Moore, Lee Atwood, Harry Wetzel and Bobbi Trout.)

The Aero Club of Southern California was founded in 1925 as the local chapter of the National Aeronautic Association. In 1981 the club mounted a campaign to save the Hughes Flying Boat (The Spruce Goose) from destruction and arranged for it to be displayed alongside the Queen Mary in Long Beach. When that facility closed in 1992, the Aero Club arranged for the plane to be transferred to McMinnville (OR), where it is the centerpiece of a major new aerospace museum. The Aero Club's annual scholarship awards program helps deserving students working toward careers in aviation and aerospace.

FMI: www.aeroclubsocal.org