Biosketch
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
Dwight Holland is an innovative leader and offers a unique perspective for promoting better Human Systems Integration (HSI) practices in the design of various systems for 25+ years in the commercial, government, and educational domains. He is an in-high demand speaker and organizer for conferences and workshops over much of the Western world and has been recently recognized as a top 1000 global “Personalities in Space”. He was a multiple-award winning USAF Officer, graduate of USAF Pilot Training and was 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 both the Space Surgery Association and Aerospace Physiologist Society as an 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 (then an $85M 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. And, after 9/11, was sponsored by the USAF SecAF to become dual-hatted ending up helping with the USAF International Office Science and Technology efforts in multiple European “hotspot” countries, where he was assigned 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 the USN Test Pilot School as a student and named a top 1% instructor after completing that 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 aeromedically/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, with 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 winning 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 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) were 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 which 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" Auto-Ground Collision Avoidance Systems (Auto-GCAS) AsMA Resolution through the AsMA wickets calling upon DoD to put Auto-GCAS in digital attack and other aircraft to reduce mishaps. DoD and the USAF at that time had very senior influential 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 led to the re-instatement of funding for A-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 A-GCAS, and why funding needed to be restored to this area to prevent future mishaps. To date—there are at least 12 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 is an avid tennis player, having won multiple tournaments and he has also 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 in both tennis and skiing part-time. He has ski raced at the Bronze and Silver NASTAR level, and the same in Vail EPIC ski racing in 2018.
Dr Holland has been a part-owner and one of the coaches 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 several Royal House orders in Europe.
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)
Some Major 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
Some 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 tracing origins 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 38/50 highest State Peaks in the USA as of early 2025