Donna Duperron, Torrance Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Attends Promotion Ceremony for Buzz Aldrin, American Astronaut, Engineer and Fighter Pilot
Donna Duperron attended the promotion ceremony for retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Buzz Aldrin last Friday. Lieutenant General Michael A. Guetlein, Commander, Space Systems Command presided over the promotion of Colonel Adrin to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force.
Aldrin is an American Former astronaut, engineer, and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, he and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two people to land on the moon.
As two F18’s completed a fly over, Lieutenant General Guetlein welcomed guests and spoke about the significance of the day. Congressional representative Ken Calvert, 41st District, said Aldrin has dedicated his life to causes greater than himself and provided a timeline of Aldrin’s accomplishments while Secretary of the Air Force, Hank Kendall, spoke about Aldrin being an inspiration to him throughout his life.
Aldrin’s first space flight was in 1966 on Gemini 12. Three years later, he set foot on the Moon, July 21, 1969, nineteen minutes after Neil Armstrong first touched the surface, while command module pilot Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. Apollo 11 effectively proved U.S. victory in the Space Race by fulfilling a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy "of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the end of the decade.
Donna Duperron
President and CEO, Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, January 4, 2010 – current
Executive Director, Retired Senior Volunteer Service, October 2008 – December 2009
Vice President, Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, October 1998 – 2008
Involvement
Chair of the Board, Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed); 2021
Board of Trustee, Torrance Memorial Medical Center – 2021 - current
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s Resiliency Task Force; 2020 – 2022
Member, Bond Oversight Committee TUSD, 2017 – 2019
Member, Census Committee, City of Torrance – 2020
Member, Blue Ribbon Committee on Communication, TUSD, 2019 – current
Board member, Western Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, 2016 - 2017
Board member, Western Association of Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 2018 - 2019
Honorary Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, 2016 – current Board member; BizFed, 2016 – current
Chair-elect, BizFed, 2020
South Bay Association of Chamber of Commerce, Executive Board member, 2013 – current
South Bay Association of Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Board, 2014
South Coast Air Quality Management District, Rule 1410 Working Group member, 2015-2019
City Torrance, Executive Committee, Centennial Celebration, 2010 through 2012
Block Captain, City of Torrance, Neighborhood Watch, 2004 – 2008 (CERT certified)
Judge, City of Torrance, Youth in Government Day, 2008 through current
Pediatric Therapy Network, Advisory Board, 2009 – 2020
Recognition
33rd District, State of California, Woman of the Year, 2016
35th Senate District, Extraordinary Citizen Award, 2015
28th Senate District, Woman of the Year, 2012
Los Angeles Business Journal’s, top executives of L.A.’s largest companies & organizations, 2013
Represented City of Torrance at the 2011 All-America City Competition in Kansas City, Missouri
California State PTA Honorary Service Award, 2007
President, Kiwanis Club of Torrance, 2007 – 2009
North High School Leadership Advisor, 2005 – 2006
Western Association of Chamber Executives, Hathaway Staff Person of the Year, 2006
South Bay Woman of the Year, 2003
Personal
Married to husband Gary for forty-five years, three children and four grandchildren
