NATION

Trans World Airlines’ board of directors elected Richard D. Pearson president Monday, following the resignation of C.E. Meyer Jr., who, as previously announced, will become president of Hilton International, a subsidiary of Transworld Corp. Pearson, who became executive vice president and chief operating officer last year, joined TWA in 1967 as a project leader inits data-processing department, wher1696622693development of automated programs, including the computerized reservations network. In 1978, he became vice president for maintenance and engineering at the airline’s principal technical base in Kansas City, Mo.