David Charles Napier Webb (November 20, 1928 – October 1, 2016) was a consultant to government agencies, corporations, universities, and nonprofit organizations on various aspects of aerospace development, technology, and education.

Career

Webb was recruited by Apollo 11 astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, to serve as founding full professor and chairman of the Department of Space Studies, Center for Aerospace Sciences, University of North Dakota. At the university, Webb created and established the world's first interdisciplinary graduate degree program in Space Studies. He recruited the founding faculty including, Dick Parker, Joanne Gabrynowicz, Jim Vedda, and Grady Blount. After Webb's departure from University of North Dakota in 1990, the program was taken over by selenologist Chuck Wood, who expanded the program into the first Internet-based degree program in space studies (1993). Webb and Blount wrote an eight million dollar grant proposal to the United States Department of Agriculture which funded the construction and establishment of the Earth System Science Institute at UND (1988–1989), now known as the Department of Earth System Science and Policy. Webb, Blount, and Vedda hosted the first (and only) International Conference on Hypersonic Flight in the 21st Century (1988).

Personal awards and recognition