DAVID LEIGHTON

LEIGHTON--David Trent.

January 21, 1925 - January 6, 2017. It is with sadness that we report the passing of David Trent Leighton on January 6, 2017 in Savannah, GA due to complications from pneumonia. By any measure he was a great man: a brilliant engineer and manager, husband, father, and philanthropist. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. David Trent Leighton was born 21 January 1925 at Los Angeles, CA, the fifth child of Rear Admiral Frank Thomson Leighton and Elizabeth Ohler Leighton. He was married to Helen Adeline Milligan (born 4 October 1926, died 19 March 2011) and is survived by two sons, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. David graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945 with the Class of 1946 standing 23 in a graduating class of 1,066. As Ensign in the navy he transferred from sea duty to join the MIT Class of '48. He completed the 22-month course MIT set up after World War II to train naval officers in the fundamentals of radar design and graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. In 1951 he was selected for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program by then Capt. H.G. Rickover, and in 1953 was in the first group to receive an MS degree in Nuclear Engineering from MIT where he earned the highest grade point average of the naval students who have completed the course. He served in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program from 1952 to 1980, first as a naval officer (reaching the rank of Commander) and then as a senior civil servant. From 1962-79 he served as Associate Director for Surface Ships; beginning in 1964 he served as Associate Director for the water cooled Breeder Reactor and Program Manager for Surface Ship Nuclear Propulsion; 1979-80 he was Assistant to the Director for Special Projects involving nuclear submarines, nuclear surface warships, and the water cooled breeder reactor; and from 1956 until his retirement from the government in January 1980, as a principal advisor to the Director, Naval Reactors Division, Department of Energy and Naval Sea Systems Command, Adm. Hyman G. Rickover. His work over this period had a tremendous impact on the development of nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. In his nomination for the Naval Academy Distinguished Graduate award he was cited for his 'remarkable and enduring efforts' to create the two- reactor propulsion plant for the Nimitz class aircraft carriers. These 10 carriers form the backbone of the Navy's first line surface striking force. He was central to their development. Honors received include: Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation and Medal, 1959; Department of Energy Exceptional Service Medal, 1979; Department of Energy Award for Special Act or Service, 1979; Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award, 1976; Energy Research & Development Administration Special Achievement Award, 1976; Atomic Energy Commission Distinguished Service Award and Gold Medal, 1972; and Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, 1970, the highest award given to a civilian by the Department of Defense. Subsequent to retirement, David remained active, engaging in two of his loves: travel and genealogy. He traveled the globe with his spouse Helen - visiting every continent except Antarctica. These travels are documented in a remarkable series of thirty journals treasured by the family. Many of their travels coincided with investigation of family roots, including visits to cemeteries and parishes in Scotland in search of original sources. Their work, combined with the records collected by a distant relative Margaret Bowman, culminated in a more than 700 page scholarly genealogy (The Ancestors and Descendents of George Leighton and Jean Guthrie, Higginson 1997). After the passing of his beloved wife of 64 years, David continued to travel, taking trips to Angkor Wat in his late 80's and Europe at age 90. In his later years David and Helen were able to give back to the community in the form of significant philanthropy. They were major donors to the Naval Academy and the Naval Historical Foundation, MIT, and the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins. These gifts support professorships in information technology (Naval Academy), mathematics (MIT) and the development of new techniques for curing blindness (Johns Hopkins). All his long life David was devoted to his family, taking great pride in the education and achievements of his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his sons Tom (CEO and co-founder of Akamai and Professor of Mathematics at MIT) and David Jr. (Professor of Chemical Engineering at Notre Dame), grandchildren James (Captain, USAF), Eleanor, Alexander, and Rachel, and great-grand children Charles and Elizabeth. Services will take place in Arlington, VA later this year. Additionally, in lieu of flowers, the family asks that people consider making a donation to Naval Historical Foundation.