At 7:52 p.m. Thursday, January 30, 2025, David Hughes Bennet took his last breath at home, with his wife and caregivers at his side.
David Bennet’s experience as a nuclear physicist, mathematician, engineer, educator, businessman and neuroscientist spans many years of service in the Military, Civil Service and Private Industry. This life well-lived includes fundamental research in underwater acoustics and nuclear physics, frequent design and facilitation of organizational interventions, serving as technical director and chief engineer of two major DoD Acquisition programs, and international recognition as a leader in the field of Knowledge Management. For 20 years, Dr. Bennet was CEO, then Chairman of the Board and Chief Knowledge Officer of a professional services firm located in Alexandria, Virginia. Prior to that he served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years, moving from Seaman Recruit to Lieutenant Commander. A Viet Nam veteran, David had struggled as an Agent Orange victim, surviving with a heart condition into his 91st year of life.
He is predeceased by his parents, David H. Bennet, Sr. and Frances Frazier Bennet; his first two wives, Betty Moore and Judy Galloway; his sister, Barbara (who served as Innkeeper at the Mountain Quest Inn for seven years); brother, John (Dana); and his daughter, Melanie.
He is survived by his wife, Alex; his children, Jackson, Steve (Colleen), Rick (Angela), Bill and Cindy; as well as stepchildren, Ginny, Bill, Andy and John; several grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
David and Alex were married for 30 years, traveling, speaking and teaching around the world. Early in their marriage, David shared his dream of building a research and retreat center, which then became their dream. The Mountain Quest Institute emerged in 2001-2003, built in a beautiful valley at the edge of Frost. In the pursuing years the facility has served individuals, organizations and the community in many ways, striving to bring learning, relaxation and joy to those it touches.
Dr. David Bennet is a Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Suma Cum Laude graduate of the University of Texas, and holds degrees in Mathematics, Physics, Nuclear Physics, Liberal Arts, Human and Organizational Development, Human Development, and Neuroscience. A life-long learner himself, at the turn of the century Dr. Bennet dedicated 10 years of his life exploring new developments in neuroscience and their impact on adult learning, culminating in an expanded model of adult experiential learning, which more recently is the foundation of the book Unleashing the Human Mind: A Consilience Approach to Managing Self.
Overall, through the Institute David and Alex Bennet co-authored more than 40 books. A foundational work was Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System, a new model of the firm based on research in complexity and neuroscience and incorporating networking theory and knowledge management, turning the living system metaphor into a reality for organizations. In addition to developing a new theory of knowledge, the Institute published significant research focused on leadership, decision-making, the intelligent social change journey, knowledge management, knowledge capacities, creativity and innovation.
In his later years, David fervently researched the nexus of Science, the Humanities and Spirituality. In the early Summer of 2024 he wrote the foreword for the book Whole Thought: The Rise of Human Intelligence. Following is a direct quote from that book:
“There are winds blowing through the mind. Sometimes you can capture it, a realization of reality and how you can use it. They are fairly light, and they do move, and they do touch your thoughts directly … what’s being built, what’s broken, not used. I know that I am going to—need to—think. About what I (me) the individual, one individual, one of a lot of other people, want to do and can do to stay in this world and learn and act and help others who cannot act but want to learn. What makes sense in this world?”
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the completion of David’s dream, moving the Mountain Quest Institute into the future as a trust, with a next-generation board of directors, to continue its dedicated quests for knowledge, consciousness and meaning.
Donations can be sent to Mountain Quest Institute, 303 Mountain Quest Lane, Marlinton, WV, 24954, USA. Please indicate “David’s memorial.”
