Three Auburn Engineering alumni were awarded with the university’s top honors during a March ceremony at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes recipients for outstanding achievements in their professional lives, personal integrity and stature, and service to the university.
Nelda Lee, ’69 aerospace engineering, is a pioneer in women’s aviation history, responsible for flight and ground test engineering for the four military aircraft manufactured by Boeing, including the F-15 Eagle, AV-8 Harrier, T-45 Goshawk and F/A-18 Hornet. Lee was an employee with McDonnell Douglas Corp., now Boeing, for 44 years. A highlight of her career with McDonnell Douglas was being the first woman to log flight time in the F-15 Eagle. She previously served as international president of Whirly-Girls and was the recipient of the 10th annual Doris Mullen Whirly-Girls Scholarship. Lee is charter member No. 15 of Women in Aviation International and currently serves on the organization’s board of directors. She is a life member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers and the Auburn Alumni Association, and has also served both St. Louis Auburn Alumni Clubs as president. Lee has been inducted into the International Women in Aviation Pioneer Half of Fame, State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame, received the Whirly-Girls Livingston Award in 2001 and was awarded the 2010 Katherine and Marjorie Stinson Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association.
Dwight Wiggins, ’62 and ’67 mechanical engineering, is an energy executive and consultant who held leadership positions at ExxonMobil and Tosco Refining over a period of three decades during which he was recognized by the industry for his innovative and forward-thinking business and engineering practices. Wiggins continues to be sought after by energy executives and investors for his global knowledge of the oil and gas industry. He was a former principal in Silver Eagle Energy, a leading consultancy to the petroleum and petrochemical industry. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before joining Exxon Corporation in 1967.
For a quarter century at Exxon, he became known as the solver of operational problems others couldn’t fix. In 1993, Wiggins joined Tosco Corporation as president of its Bayway Refining Company. Recognized by the college as a Distinguished Auburn Engineer, he is also a member of the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. A long-time member of the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council, he has also served on the Auburn University Foundation and is a life member of the Auburn Alumni Association. His transformational gift to the Shelby Center led to Wiggins Mechanical Engineering Hall being named in honor of his father, Dwight L. Wiggins Sr.
K-Rob Thomas, ’01 civil engineering, is a transmission construction general manager at Alabama Power Co. He is the recipient of the Young Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes extraordinary accomplishments by a member of the Auburn family under the age of 40. Following graduation from Auburn in 2001, Thomas joined Southern Co. as a transmission line maintenance engineer. In a short amount of time he has progressed through many roles within Southern Co. and currently serves as transmission construction general manager for Alabama Power in the company’s Birmingham headquarters.
Thomas is an active supporter of Auburn Engineering, and he was named by the college as an Outstanding Young Auburn Engineer in 2014. He also established the Dennis Weatherby Annual Scholarship Award, named for the founding director of Auburn Engineering’s Alabama Power Academic Excellence Program.
