Biosketch 2024
Biosketch for Dwight Holland, MALS, MS, MSE, MD, PhD
Academician, International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine
Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society
Fellow, Royal Anthropological Society
Fellow, Aerospace Medical Association
Fellow, Aerospace Human Factors Association
Dr. Holland is a leader for promoting better Human Systems Integration (HSI)
practices in aerospace and ergonomics in design (and application) processes for
25+ years in both commercial and government within the larger Systems Engineering
Management domain. He is an in high demand speaker and chair for conferences and
workshops throughout the Western world, and has been recently recognized as a top 1000
global “Personalities in Space”. He is a multiple-award winning USAF Officer and a graduate
of USAF Pilot Training, Dr. Holland is also a fully qualified USAF Acquisitions and Engineering
Officer and a commercial type-rated jet pilot with over 2,000 hours of flight time in 35+ aircraft
including research flight test engineering, and research pilot work.
He has served as the President of multiple professional societies such as the International
Association of Military Pilot Physicians, Space Medicine Association, Aerospace Human Factors
Association, the Life Sciences and Bioengineering Branch of the Aerospace Medical Association
(LSBEB), and others. He now serves as the Awards Chair/Historian and Social Chair of LSBEB,
and on the Board of the Aerospace Physiologist Society as the elected Member-at-Large. He is
also a member of the AIAA’s Space Exploration Integration Committee, and the Life Sciences
and Systems Technical Committee where he serves as the sub-committee chair for panels and
conventions.
Dr. Holland has served as the Senior Reserve (IMA) Officer to the 711th Warfighter
Readiness Research Division, a multi-$100M’s of USD organization, and as the Senior Reserve
Officer and Deputy Director, Education Division at the Air Force Flight Test School (TPS) at
Edwards AFB, CA. He was the first-ever Reservist to be attached to the USN Test Pilot School.
After 9/11, he was requested by the USAF SecAF to help with the USAF International Office
Science and Technology efforts in multiple European “hotspot” countries, where he was dual-
hatted there and at the USN Test Pilot School. While at the USN Test Pilot School, he was
named a Top Performer in all of the Short Courses at the USN Test Pilot School, and
named a top 1% instructor after completing the body of work, and supporting the USN Test
Pilot School Staff on the teaching faculty.
In 2010-12, he conceived and co-led a multi-organizational team across two USAF
Commands in a novel high Gz physiologic and G-suit evaluation project that is the first documented example of dedicated flight test events with prescribed, high-G sorties with
instrumented F-16 jets using the latest “full coverage” G-suit technology. This included
centrifuge runs and actual flying this suite of instrumentation at 9 Gz’s in flight. These
aeromedical/human systems integration historic first-ever flights of this type included
centrifuge build-up rides, and were successfully flown with data recorded while the jet aircraft
and pilots were fully instrumented to include measures of flight parameters, G loads, O2
saturation, respiration, core/superficial body temperatures, and workload estimates.
Releasable aspects of these data were presented at the 2012 international Aerospace Medical
Association annual scientific meeting. This large multi-office effort project has received notice,
and part of this work has won the West Coast Society of Experimental Test Pilots best paper
award, was nominated for the prestigious international Collier Trophy by the USAF Test Pilot
School, and won the “best presentation” award from the Society of Flight Test Engineers
Annual Scientific Meeting that year. Dr. Holland was personally nominated by Test Pilot School
staff for the prestigious international Kelly Johnson Award from the Society of Flight Test
Engineers for his contributions and leadership for adding Human Systems Integration into the
curricula at both the USN and USAF Test Pilot School, among other accomplishments in flight
test.
Dr. Holland worked for over a decade redesigning the curriculum and teaching at the
USN/USAF Test Pilot Schools with a heavy emphasis on issues related to SA/SD, HSI, and other
Human Factors and Aeromedical Issues in Flight Test from a systems perspective with
commendations for this body of work. He was also responsible for being the first to integrate
RPA/UAV tests and qualifications into the USAF Test Pilot School curriculum. In 2012 he was
named the Field Grade Officer of the Year (as an IMA) for the Edwards AFB Flight Test Wing for
his military contributions to the test pilot school and support of various test and academic
missions at Edwards AFB, CA.
His work and focus throughout his career in the HSI arena has included a heavy emphasis on
Workload Assessment, Situation Awareness/Spatial disorientation (SA/SD), Human Factors in
Flight Test, Aerospace Medicine Research, Space Human Factors and Systems Engineering
matters. Through the last 20+ years, he has also used his academic and Science and Technology
expertise and Geophysics knowledge to select good investment choices in multiple domains.
Dr. Holland has worked with colleagues internationally in the aerospace medicine, human
factors, and systems engineering communities to organize and chair about 60 scientific sessions
for international scientific research and operational committees on three continents in topics
ranging from enhancing the Systems Engineering Design Process to Space Medicine/Human
Factors in space, Controls/Displays, Group Dynamics/Leadership and other human factors-
related issues for air and spacecraft. He was the second American named as an Honorary
Member of the Slovenian Aerospace Medical Association, an arm of their medical society; and,
co-founded with Slovenia’s State Secretary of Defense (Dr M. Jazbec) the first academic
conference in the region soon after the Balkans Wars there. For this and other significant
international partnership and leadership work, he received Won J Kay award in the mid 2000’s
for his international work in aerospace medicine and human performance.
He and Lt Col Jim Freeman, USAF (ret) we the earliest mishap evaluators to specifically
highlight the enormous costs associated with USAF aircraft Class A mishap losses due to SA/SD
in their 1991 presentation at AsMA-- which was a top three finalist abstract/presentation for
the Young Investigator Award, and led to much interest by others (notably Dr P. Mapes et al.) in
quantifying a business case for reducing SA/SD and other HSI related mishaps through better
Systems Engineering and Acquisitions processes. Dr Holland also was deeply involved in these
areas, including helping to evolve and steer the (Mapes) Ground Collision Avoidance Systems
(GCAS) AsMA Resolution through the AsMA wickets calling upon DoD to put GCAS in digital
attack and other aircraft to reduce mishaps. DoD and the USAF at that time had very powerful
high level officers at HQ Air Combat Command, and in fact also the USAF Surgeon General
himself that publicly opposed this resolution. After much internal lobbying within AsMA as an
Executive Committee member, and wordsmithing-- the resolution passed AsMA, and eventually
became a part of Sec DoD Policy which lead to the re-instatement of funding for GCAS research,
development and testing across DoD for these life- and aircraft-saving systems. Dr Holland also
gave the earliest paper at AsMA in 1995 on the rationale for GCAS, and why funding needed to
be restored to this area to prevent future mishaps. To date—there are at least 11 known saves
of fighter aircraft and pilots from the implementation of the auto-GCAS system in USAF Aircraft.
Dr. Holland was by-name requested to serve as moderator in the Secretary of AF
Acquisition Systems Engineering Process improvement initiative (known then as the "Lean
Aerospace Initiative"). This work with 100 hand-picked SecAF/AQ selections lead to high level
USAF Systems Engineering Process changes that were codified in the mid-2000s. Part of these
changes involved emphasizing HSI/SA/SD and other Human Systems Integration issues
throughout the Systems Engineering design/acquisitions in the USAF processes. He also served
as the Technical Co-Chair and governmental leadership track organizer for the largest-ever
International Systems Engineering Conference to date in 2003, and highlighted how better
Human-Systems Engineering leads to increased effectiveness, efficiencies, and better decision-
making.
Dr. Holland was invited by the National Polar Research Board Chairman Dr. Charles Bentley
to participate in a Glacio-Geophysical Research Expedition to the Antarctic. Dr. Holland was
responsible for the Gravity/Magnetics studies and first use of Global Satellite Positioning
Systems (GPS) for Antarctic scientific surveys. He was awarded the Antarctic Service Medal by
the National Science Foundation “…for valuable contributions to exploration and scientific
achievement” for his geophysical research contributions. He flew in a specially outfitted Twin
Otter research aircraft on most days and functioned as a field geophysicist, flight test engineer,
and occasional co-pilot.
Other notable accomplishments include in 2004/05 serving as one of several co-authors to
the AsMA 2005 Tuttle Award research team in the areas related to a variety of HSI issues for all-
night flying fatigue and psychomotor performance, serving as the research pilot, and
experimental design consultant for the project. This ground-breaking research with Dr M.
Russo et al. lead to many papers and presentations that directly affected regulatory framework
for pilots and indeed resident physicians working during long extended shifts, because this body
of research showed that measurable decrements in fatigue, psychomotor performance, and
situation awareness occurred sooner than previously thought by a few hours. At nearly the
same time, he lead various teams in published case studies of how fatigue affected situation
awareness in large aircraft (C-5 incidents), space (Mir-Progress collision), and several flight test
situations (see "Breaking the Mishap Chain", NASA 2012, as the conceptual originator for the book, and co-author).
In the past Dr. Holland has held the prestigious Cunningham Fellowship at VT, a NASA-
Stanford Faculty Fellowship, been a Program Manager for the USAF Office for Scientific
Research’s International Office, and has over 130 academic presentations and publications to
his credit. He has chaired about 60 panels, and been the Co-Editor of a Special Edition of an
international Journal of Virtual Reality, and the co-author of the critically acclaimed NASA HQ-
sponsored book that debuted in May 2012 entitled: “Breaking the Mishap Chain: Human
Factors Lessons Learned from Aerospace Incidents and Mishaps from Research, Flight Test, and
Development”. This book was nominated by NASA for the International Airbus Aviation Award
and was a finalist for this award. He has lectured all over the western world on Situation
Awareness/Spatial Disorientation matters, Human-System Integration Matters,
Leadership/Group Dynamics, and Organizational Culture for sustaining high performance
teams, among other topics in human factors, systems engineering, and space medicine.
In his athletic life, Dr. Holland did not play High School tennis but played football, and played
doubles on a strong college tennis team for two years before he decided to double major his
senior year and had several overload semesters to do before going to graduate school. During
the mid-late 1980’s to 1990 he taught tennis part-time on and off for Roanoke County Parks
and Recreation while in graduate school, and was named “Outstanding Instructor”. In the late
1990’s he taught tennis for a summer for at-risk Roanoke City kids for Roanoke City Parks and
recreation. In a return to tennis after a 13-year absence, in the late 1990’s he placed third in
the Coca-Cola Pro-Am at Hunting Hills Country Club in a competitive field, and from 2001-2005
was ranked in the top 2-6 players in the State of Virginia in USTA sanctioned 35 and over Men’s
Doubles play. He has been ranked No 1 in the State of Virginia in Men’s 45 and over in doubles
play in 2005. He has captained winning USTA Men’s 4.0 Team for years; and in the late 2010’s
just before COVID, his 8.0 Combo teams qualified for USTA Sectionals in the Mid-Atlantic arena.
One year, he and his team were undefeated in USTA match play here in Roanoke. He has also
played on and Captained multiple Mixed Doubles, and RVTA World Team Tennis format teams
during recent summers in Roanoke. More recently, for the past 4 years he along with John
Barker at Hunting Hills Country Club is the Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Roanoke
Regional Tennis Hall of Fame. So far 21 people have been inducted, with 4-5 more to be
inducted on June 29 th in Roanoke, VA. Dwight has also served as an elected Member-At-Large
of the Roanoke Valley Tennis Association (RVTA), served on the RVTA Advisory Board, and is
now the Vice-President of that Board. He has participated in numerous RVTA Youth Tennis
Bashes and Friday public tennis events as an adult instructor or manager. He has won Gold and
Silver medals in the annual Roanoke Regional Tennis Hall of Fame Pro-Am (2021, 2023).
Dwight has been a Professionally Certified Ski Instructor for 22 years for Snowshoe,
Wintergreen, and Vail Resorts. He has taught kids, adolescents, and adults of all ages
both tennis and skiing part-time. He has won Bronze and Silver NASTAR ski racing medals, and
the same in Vail EPIC ski racing in 2018.
Dr Holland is also a part-owner and coach of a Semi-Pro American Football Team in the
Roanoke Region of VA/NC.
For his service and support to various Royal Houses in Europe, he has been named a Knight
Grand Cross in the Orders of Prince Danilo, St Michael of the Wing, and the Order of the Eagle.
He was awarded a Hereditary Knighthood by the Royal House of Portugal, and is one of two
Medal of Merit Recipients in North America from the Royal House of Montenegro in 2022.
Education:
MD, University of Virginia (2008)
Ph.D., Virginia Tech (VT), ISE Dept/Human Factors Engineering concentration (2001)
MA, Hollins University, 2012 (Political Science/International Relations focus)
MS, Geophysics, VT (1986)
MSE, Systems Engineering, VT (1991)
Air Command and Staff College (2011)
Awards Relevant to Aerospace Medicine and Human Systems Integration:
2002—Roscoe Award for “Best Dissertation” in a field related to Aerospace Human Factors
2005 Co-author on Tuttle Award for most significant research paper in academic journal
2005, AsMA Chuel Kay Award—for significant contributions to international Aerospace
Medicine
2012, AsMA Sidney D. Leverett Environmental Science Award – for USAF/USN Test Pilot Sch
2019, Kent K. Gillingham Award—for significant contributions to the human factors issues
Military: Multiple Awards-- Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf cluster, among others;
USAF Reserve Officer of Yr/Qrt several times; Recommended for Group-level command
responsibilities before he left military (served in a Division Leadership role in last assignment)
Highlighted Academic, Honorary and Leadership Societies/Roles:
Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and Omicron Delta Kappa, and four other honorary
societies
Among the first 50 individuals selected international for inclusion into the new Systems
Engineering Honorary Society (Omega Alpha)
Cunningham Fellowship at Virginia Tech (only engineering graduate student selected that year)
NASA/Stanford Faculty Fellow
Supervisory Committee Chair (2 yrs) and Member of Committee (5 Years) for regional Credit
Union that grew from 86M to over 325M during my tenure with highest grades from US Gov’t
Academician of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine
Fellow of both the Aerospace Human Factors Association and Aerospace Medical Association
Fellow of both the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Royal Aeronautical Society
Member of the VT Alumni Association Board of Directors— 2 terms of 3 yrs each
VT University’s Executive Committee for Diversity and Inclusion-- 2 terms of 3 yrs each
Board member and later Chair of first $86M, then $325M at end of term of financial institution
in VA with the highest grades from Federal Auditors two years in a row for fiscal management
President—Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society (2017-2018)
President of Regional Air Force Association Chapter (2020)
Treasurer of the Virginia State Air Force Association (2020; over 6,500 members in Virginia)
Founding Chairperson of Roanoke Regional Tennis Hall of Fame (2020)
Vice President of Roanoke Valley Tennis Association (2024); previous Board member 4 yrs
Key Present and Past Aerospace Medical/Human Performance Association Activities:
Member-at-Large Aerospace Medical Association Council selected 3 times for 2 year terms each
Elected Member-At-Large starting in May 2023 by Aerospace Physiologists for 4 year term
Past-President, Aerospace Human Factors Association
Past-President, Space Medicine Branch/Association
Past-President, International Association of Military Flight Surgeon Pilots
Past-President, Life Sciences and Biomedical Engineering Branch of AsMA (elected Historian and
appointed Awards Chair now starting term in June 2020)
AsMA Executive Committee; AsMA Nominations Committee multiple years Council for over 15
years total (as MAL, Rep from IAMFSP, Space Medicine, AsHFA)
Aerospace Medicine Journal Assoc Editor Book Reviews (4 yrs)
AsMA Scientific Program Committee for roughly 15 years
Some other select International Society Memberships, Affiliations and Dynastic Royal House
support:
AIAA – American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Senior Member)
INCOSE – International Council on Systems Engineering (past Technical Co-Chair for largest
conference held to date)
Friends of Georgia – USA org helping Georgian people with contributions
Society of Flight Test Engineers—Lifetime Member (international society)
Knight Grand Cross – Three Dynastic Royal Houses-- Georgia, Montenegro, Portugal
Hereditary Knight and Noble Company Knighthoods—Portugal, and Maestranza de Castilla (a
Noble Company in Spain)
Honorary Member of Slovenian Aerospace Medical Association
Member of Venerable Order of St John (A UK Royal Order going back to 1099)
Athletic:
Founding President— Fellow of Christian Athletes College Chapter
Professional Ski Instructor at VAIL /Snowshoe/Wintergreen Resorts—professionally certified for
22 yrs (part-timework only); taught all ages from 3-80
Past Tennis Instructor Roanoke County Parks and Rec (multiple periods); Roanoke City Parks
and Recreation for at-risk children (1 summer)
Former No 1 in Men’s Doubles 45+ in Virginia for United States Tennis Association; multiple top
7 rankings in last 25 years in 35 and over
United States Tennis Association – Team Captain multiple years – 2019 personal and
undefeated team record in Men’s 8.0 Combination Play
One year undefeated in Men’s Summer League Roanoke play, and served on two teams that
won the summer league
Climbed 35/50 highest State Peaks in the USA as of April 2024
