William T. Russell; Aerospace Executive, Sierra Club Leader

William T. Russell, 76, aerospace executive and Sierra Club leader. Born in Medford, Ore., and raised in Steilacoom, Wash., Russell worked in logging camps to pay his way through the University of Washington. He served as an Army officer in World War II and then earned a doctorate in engineering at Caltech. For 30 years Russell worked with TRW, retiring as a vice president more than a decade ago. As head of TRW’s space vehicles division in the late 1960s, Russell urged education administrators to train young people in the technical, financial, legal and political aspects of international space. Active in the Sierra Club’s Los Angeles chapter, he provided instruction in rock climbing, safety and navigation. Russell was the husband of former Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell. On Thursday in his Westchester home.