INTERSTELLAR DUST HAS A PROFOUND EFFECT ON A NUMBER OF PHYSICAL PROCESSES IN GALAXIES AND ALSO AFFECTS THEIR APPEARANCE. NATURALLY THE PROPERTIES OF DUST GRAINS IN GALAXIES ARE IMPORTANT PARAMETERS IN CONSTRAINING GALAXY EVOLUTION MODELS. ABSORPTION LINES ARISING IN GALAXIES ALONG SIGHTLINES TOWARD LUMINOUS BACKGROUND QUASARS PROVIDE AN INVALUABLE TOOL TO STUDY THE GAS AND DUST IN AND AROUND GALAXIES. RECENT STUDIES OF QUASAR ABSORPTION SYSTEMS (QASS) AND OTHER HIGH-Z GALAXIES SUGGEST THAT THE DUST IN THESE DISTANT GALAXIES MAY BE QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN THE MILKY WAY (MW) E.G. MORE RICH IN SILICATES AND LESS RICH IN CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS.IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHETHER THE HIGH-Z DUST REALLY DIFFERS FROM THE LOW-Z DUST IT IS ESSENTIAL TO ESTABLISH A BENCHMARK DATABASE OF THE DUST PROPERTIES OF THE MW AND NEARBY GALAXIES. MOREOVER IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE EFFECTS OF EVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATIONS IT IS ESSENTIAL TO STUDY THE DUST IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE GALAXIES. TO DO THIS IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO MEASURE THE KEY DUST ABSORPTION PROPERTIES (E.G. THE STRENGTHS OF SILICATE AND CARBONACEOUS ABSORPTION FEATURES EXTINCTION CURVE SHAPES AND ELEMENT DEPLETIONS) ALONG THE SAME SET OF SIGHTLINES. IRONICALLY SUCH A REFERENCE SET OF LOCAL MEASUREMENTS DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST. IN THE MW MEASUREMENTS CANNOT BE OBTAINED FOR THE SAME SET OF BACKGROUND STARS SINCE STARS BRIGHT ENOUGH IN THE UV FOR THE 2175 A BUMP MEASUREMENTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH IN THE IR FOR MEASUREMENTS OF THE SILICATE 9.7 AND 18 MICRON FEATURES. SUITABLE ULTI-WAVELENGTH DUST ABSORPTION STUDIES DO NOT EXIST FOR NEARBY GALAXIES EITHER. WE PROPOSE TO CONSTRUCT A HOMOGENEOUSLY ANALYZED SAMPLE OF DUST ABSORPTION PROPERTIES IN THE MW AND LOCAL GALAXIES ALONG SIGHTLINES TO BACKGROUND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI (AGN). THESE AGN ARE BRIGHT ENOUGH IN BOTH UV AND IR TO ALLOW RELIABLE ABSORPTION MEASUREMENTS AND PROBE DIVERSE REGIONS IN THE GALAXIES.OUR SPECIFIC GOALS ARE: (1) WE WILL USE SPITZER IRS SPECTRA TO MEASURE THE 9.7 AND 18 MICRON SILICATE ABSORPTION FEATURES. (2) WE WILL ANALYZE HST/IUE UV SPECTRA TO MEASURE THE 2175 A CARBONACEOUS DUST FEATURES ALONG THE SAME SIGHTLINES THAT HAVE THE SILICATE MEASUREMENTS. (3) WE WILL USE THE AVAILABLE SPITZER HERSCHEL HST AND SDSS IMAGES OF THE BACKGROUND AGN TO DERIVE EXTINCTION CURVES OF DUST IN THE FOREGROUND GALAXIES. (4) WE WILL EXAMINE THE KECK OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE (KOA) HIRES/ESI AND VLT UVES/ X-SHOOTER SPECTRA OF THE BACKGROUND AGN TO MEASURE GAS-PHASE ABSORPTION LINES IN THE FOREGROUND GALAXIES. COMBINING THESE WITH HST SPECTRA WE WILL DETERMINE THE GAS-PHASE ELEMENT DEPLETIONS. (5) WE WILL SEARCH SPITZER AND HERSCHEL SPECTRA FOR LONGER WAVELENGTH CRYSTALLINE SILICATE RESONANCE ABSORPTION FEATURES. (6) BY ANALYZING AND COMBINING THESE ARCHIVAL DATA WE WILL MEASURE THE CARBON:SILICATE DUST RATIOS EXTINCTION CURVES AND ELEMENT DEPLETIONS AND CONSTRAIN GRAIN STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES IN THESE NEARBY GALAXIES. (7) WE WILL COMBINE THE DUST PROPERTIES THUS OBTAINED AT Z<0.1 WITH THOSE AT HIGHER REDSHIFTS FROM OUR RECENT STUDIES TO CONSTRAIN DUST EVOLUTION MODELS DEVELOPED BY CO-I DR. DWEK. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL PROVIDE THE FIRST STUDY OF CORRELATIONS BETWEEN DIFFERENT DUST ABSORPTION PROPERTIES IN THE NEARBY UNIVERSE AND A DIRECT PROBE OF DUST EVOLUTION WHEN COMPARED WITH MEASUREMENTS FOR THE DISTANT UNIVERSE.OUR WORK IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE COSMIC ORIGINS PROGRAM OUTLINED IN THE 2014 NASA SCIENCE PLAN SINCE UNDERSTANDING DUST EVOLUTION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO UNDERSTANDING GALAXY EVOLUTION AND PLANET FORMATION. THIS WORK WILL USE DATA FROM SEVERAL NASASUPPORTED MISSIONS TO ESTABLISH A LOCAL BENCHMARK FOR UNDERSTANDING DUST EVOLUTION AND IS THUS ESPECIALLY RELEVANT FOR DISTANT GALAXY STUDIES WITH THE JWST. OUR WORK WILL ALSO PROVIDE NASA-RELATED OUTREACH AND GRADUATE/UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY.