PASADENA, Calif. (KNX) — Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena has named a new director. Laurie Leshin, formerly president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, is the first woman appointed to the job in the federally funded research and development center and NASA field center’s history.
Leshin is a trained geochemist and space scientist. She succeeds Michael Watkins, who stepped down from the directorship in August.
As JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology on NASA’s behalf, Leshin will also assume a vice president role at the school.
The new director is an Arizona native who earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Arizona State University. Her appointment to the directorship at JPL marks a return to Pasadena and Caltech — she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in geochemistry from the school as well.
“Laurie Leshin stood out in an exhaustive international search because of her profound commitment to people, her strategic approach to scientific and technological opportunities, her deep appreciation of NASA’s leadership in space exploration and Earth science, her mastery of complex organizations and her ability to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum in a statement. “We are so pleased to be able to welcome Laurie back to campus and to JPL.”
Previously, Leshin was doctor of science and exploration for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In 2008, she was named its deputy director for science and technology. Two years later, she became deputy associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Part of her research work has focused on developing the commercial capabilities of space flight.
“I am both thrilled and humbled to be appointed the director of JPL,” Leshin said in a statement Thursday. “In many ways, this feels like a homecoming. Some of the most impactful experiences of my career have taken place on the Caltech campus and at JPL — lessons learned and goals achieved that have shaped me as a leader and a space scientist. The opportunity to return to working closely with so many colleagues across Caltech — at the Lab and on campus — and at NASA is a dream come true.”
She added she was “especially honored to be the first woman to hold the title of director of JPL.”
Related
