Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profile. Each week we will highlight an individual that embodies what it means to be an evolved man, famous and non-famous individuals alike. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to sculptor, author, Air Force veteran, and astronaut Ed Dwight.
Born on September 9, 1933, Edward Joseph Dwight Jr. hails from Kansas City, Kansas. He developed a specific passion for art at a young age. Apart from his love for art, Dwight was also passionate about airplanes. Growing up in segregated Kansas, Dwight believed he could never fly an aircraft. But one day, he came across a photograph of a black pilot who had been shot down in Korea.
Dwight’s enrollment at Bishop Ward, a private Catholic School, provided new opportunities. Despite this, racial prejudices during the late 1940s and early 1950s played a significant role in shaping his experiences at the school. Although Dwight could have attended the Kansas City Art Institute on a scholarship for his artistic abilities, his father insisted he pursue a career in engineering since it was a more lucrative field. During that same year, he enlisted in the Air Force.
Dwight took night classes at Arizona State University during his test pilot training. He graduated with honors in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. At Edwards Air Force Base, Dwight later completed Air Force courses on experimental test piloting and aerospace research in 1961 and 1962. While in the Air Force, he achieved the rank of captain.
Dwight moved on to Phase II of ARPS, but NASA did not select him as an astronaut. The Guardian reported he resigned from the Air Force in 1966, stating that racial politics had pushed him out of NASA and into a regular officer position.
Once Dwight concluded his military career in 1966, he ultimately returned to his greatest passion: art. Over the past 40 years, Dwight has been responsible for designing memorials and sculptures worldwide. His notable works are underground Railroad memorials in Michigan, Canada, and New Jersey.
In May 2023, Edward Dwight, the man once selected as a candidate for the first African-American astronaut in the Air Force 60 years earlier, fulfilled his dream seeing the stars in person by going on a short space trip with Blue Origin. Ed Dwight rode the New Shepherd rocket, owned by Jeff Bezos’ private space company, on a 10-minute journey above the Kármán Line, an imaginary barrier that separates Earth’s atmosphere from outer space.
Here is the legendary Ed Dwight, in his own words, about his next space adventure:
“I want to go into orbit. I want to go around the Earth and see the whole Earth. That’s what I want to do now.”
Ed Dwight has lived a long and remarkable life. He has experienced tremendous success and his most devastating failures following his passions. Time and time again, he has reinvented himself. He has been involved in historical events and, even at ninety, continues to leave a mark on history. Today, we honor Ed Dwight as our Evolved Man of the Week.
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