Judging by the length of his acceptance speech, Dr. John Kirk '56, the 2010 recipient of the Alumni Association Award, is a man of few words.

But that's OK, because his accomplishments speak loudly for him.

Kirk, who accepted the award with a gracious "thank you," is currently a division director at Northrop Grumman Corp., a leading global security company that provides innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Kirk helps to design and manage software models and simulations for satellite navigation.

He joined the company in 1995, then called Illgen Simulation Technologies, and is responsible for all tasks and activities related to navigation and communications. His division has worked on projects for the FAA, has provided technical analyses and reverse'engineering for algorithms related to satellite orbit determination and management, and he wrote an algorithm description document for the GPS satellite message ephemeris and clock state parameters corrections code in the Stanford University Wide Area Differential GPS computer program after reverse'engineering this code, just to name a few.

Kirk, who holds a bachelor's degree from Amherst College and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, began his career in 1969 as a junior astronomer at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. He then taught physics and astronomy at the University of Toledo for five years before joining Computer Sciences Corp. as a staff scientist in 1974 under a contract the company had with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His work on the company's cube corner analysis program earned a NASA Technical Innovation Award.

He has remained in the industry ever since, working at General Dynamics Corp. as a test director in the electronics division where he had principal responsibility for oversight and analysis of real'time tracking performance of six GPS satellites and the Navstar Global Positioning System test constellation. He worked for 15 years as a senior systems engineer at Geodynamics Corp., providing formal instruction in the use of the TRACE satellite orbit analysis program, and modeling gravity and other effects on rocket launch trajectories.

Kirk has been a member of WRA's Board of Visitors since 1996, where "his thoughtful insight and experience to the board's deliberations has delivered greatly to the substance of the board's report each year to the Trustees," said Jyl Brown'McLaughlin '91, co'vice president of the Alumni Association Board, in presenting the award to Kirk.

In 1983, Kirk established the Charles R. & Dorothy M. Kirk Fund to honor his parents. The fund supports outstanding applicants who would be unable to attend WRA without financial assistance. Kirk works hard to meet every scholarship recipient when he is on campus and often attends their graduation.

In 2003, Kirk merged his interests in astronomy and clocks by funding the restoration of the side'rail clock in the Loomis Observatory. The clock, originally built in London in the 1830s, is now once again fully operational and on display in Wilson Hall. A working replica of the clock is currently in the Loomis Observatory.

Kirk is a member of the Reserve Heritage Society and an active supporter of the Annual Fund, earning Brick Row Legend status for making a gift for more than 25 consecutive years.