Melvin R. Laird

Awards and Accolades

Thomas D. White National Defense Award

Presented to Melvin R. Laird
by the United States Air Force Academy
September 11, 1982 Colorado Springs, Colorado

Secretary Laird was a guest speaker for the Thomas D. White National Defense Award

The Thomas D. White National Defense Award was established in 1962. It is conferred each year "on the United States citizen who is judged to have contributed most significantly to national defense and the security of the United States during the years preceding the award." The award is named in honor of Thomas Dressor White, Air Force Chief of Staff from 1957 - 1961.

The first recipient of the award was Edward Teller, a nuclear physicist.