David Duvall Thomas, who attended UT Knoxville in engineering in the 1930s, oversaw the U.S. air traffic control centers and retired in 1970 as deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. He was in charge of the federal air tracking system in the 1950s and in the 1960s helped increase airport security in response to terrorist hijackings. He received the Distinguished Federal Service Award, the highest honor for career government employees.