He established the Thomas Dudley Cabot Scholarship Fund at MIT in 1960 and in 1977 members of his family honored him by endowing the Thomas Dudley Cabot Institute Chair. He and his wife established the Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot chair, in 1986, following his family's legacy of MIT involvement. His grandfather, Dr. Samuel Cabot, was a Boston citizen who supported the founding of MIT and his father, Godfrey L. Cabot, graduated from MIT in 1881. Godfrey L. Cabot also supported the Institute by establishing the Godfrey L. Cabot Solar Energy Fund.