Laurie Leshin, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has been appointed director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and vice president of Caltech. In this brand-new period of groundbreaking discoveries and constant development, it is clear that Dr. Laurie Leshin has a track record of scholarship and leadership required to serve as director of JPL and cement the centers status as a global leader in the 21st century,” says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Under Dr. Leshin, the innovation invented at JPL will continue to enable people to explore the places in our universe that we can not yet reach and trigger the imaginations of future mathematicians, engineers, and leaders in class throughout America. Laurie Leshin, 2nd from left, commemorates the landing of NASAs Curiosity rover on August 5, 2012, with other members of the science groups at JPL. In 2004, Leshin served on President George W. Bushs Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, a nine-member commission charged with encouraging the president on the execution of his new Vision for Space Exploration.
Laurie Leshin officially assumes her functions as director of NASA JPL and vice president of Caltech in May.Credit: Photo Courtesy Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The prominent geochemist and area researcher brings more than twenty years of leadership experience in scholastic and federal government service to JPL.
Laurie Leshin, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has actually been appointed director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and vice president of Caltech. Leshin will officially assume her position on May 16, 2022, prospering Michael Watkins, who retired in August 2021, and Lt. Gen. Larry D. James USAF (Ret.), who presently acts as JPL interim director.
She signs up with JPL from WPI, one of the nations earliest personal STEM universities, where she has actually worked as president considering that 2014. She is the first female president in the universitys 150-year history and will be JPLs very first female director.
” Laurie Leshin stood apart in an exhaustive international search due to the fact that of her extensive commitment to individuals, her tactical approach to clinical and technological chances, her deep appreciation of NASAs management in space exploration and Earth science, her mastery of intricate companies, and her ability to influence the next generation of engineers and scientists,” says Caltech president Thomas F. Rosenbaum, the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and teacher of physics. “We are so pleased to be able to welcome Laurie back to campus and to JPL.”
In this brand-new age of groundbreaking discoveries and constant innovation, it is clear that Dr. Laurie Leshin has a track record of scholarship and management needed to serve as director of JPL and seal the centers status as a worldwide leader in the 21st century,” says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Under Dr. Leshin, the innovation developed at JPL will continue to allow people to explore the places in our universe that we can not yet reach and trigger the creativities of future mathematicians, engineers, and pioneers in classrooms across America.
Laurie Leshin, second from left, commemorates the landing of NASAs Curiosity rover on August 5, 2012, with other members of the science teams at JPL. Leshin is a co-Investigator on 2 of the rovers instruments, the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tool and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS). She previously acted as a long-term planner on the mission.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Leshin is an internationally recognized researcher whose profession has spanned academic community and senior positions at NASA, and consisted of 2 White House consultations. She has been admired for her barrier-breaking leadership in the area market and in academic community along with for her achievements as a distinguished geochemist and space scientist.
Some of the most impactful experiences of my career have actually taken place on the Caltech campus and at JPL– lessons discovered and objectives achieved that have formed me as an area and a leader researcher. The chance to return to working closely with so lots of associates throughout Caltech– at the Lab and on campus– and at NASA is a dream come true,” Leshin states. I look forward to my work with Caltech and NASA to ensure that JPL continues to drive development across the global space environment.
In 2005, she became director of science and exploration at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, and in 2008, she was promoted to Goddards deputy director for science and innovation, where she and colleagues were responsible for the method, planning, and application of more than 50 Earth and space flight projects. In 2010, Leshin presumed the role of deputy associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, where her work involved the oversight of the future human spaceflight program, consisting of efforts to develop industrial crew abilities and components of what is now the Artemis program. In that function, Leshin also worked to catalyze around the world space exploration by engaging with worldwide space companies and corporations, and through developing robotic missions and new technologies to produce brand-new possibilities for humans to take a trip to destinations deeper in the planetary system. Leshin left NASA in 2011 to join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as dean of the School of Science.
At WPI, Leshin focused on expanding research, WPIs signature Global Projects Program, and methods to address gender variation in STEM. In addition, throughout her governmental period, new scholastic and partnership areas were established on the WPI school, especially a 40,000-square-foot Innovation Studio, with versatile, creative area for active learning class, and the newly opened Unity Hall, a 100,000-square-foot scholastic structure concentrated on robotics engineering, information science, cybersecurity, learning sciences and technology, and other emerging interdisciplinary programs. WPI is now among STEM institutions with the greatest portion of female undergraduate trainees and is recognized for its balance of quality in teaching and groundbreaking research study.
Together with her administrative career, Leshin has continued her scientific endeavors, which are focused on figuring out the record of water on items in our planetary system. For instance, she worked as a member of the Mars Science Laboratory science team that examined data gathered by the Curiosity rover to find evidence of water on the surface of Mars. She has likewise been associated with planning and advocating for Mars Sample Return objectives for more than 20 years.
Raised in Arizona, Leshin earned a bachelors degree in chemistry from Arizona State University (ASU), followed by masters and postgraduate degrees in geochemistry from Caltech. After a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA, she acted as a professor of geological sciences at ASU and director of its Center for Meteorite Studies. Prior to leaving ASU for NASA, she led the formation of ASUs pathbreaking School of Earth and Space Exploration.
Leshin is a recipient of NASAs Outstanding Leadership Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal, and of the Meteoritical Societys Nier Prize, awarded for outstanding research in meteoritics or planetary science by a scientist under the age of 35. The International Astronomical Union acknowledged her contributions to planetary science with the naming of asteroid 4922 Leshin.
In 2004, Leshin served on President George W. Bushs Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, a nine-member commission charged with advising the president on the execution of his new Vision for Space Exploration. In 2013, President Barack Obama selected Leshin to the board of advisers of the Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum. Because 2016, she has co-chaired the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable.
In 2021, Leshin received Caltechs Distinguished Alumni Award, which is bestowed yearly by the Institute in acknowledgment of personal and expert achievements that have made a noteworthy effect in a society, community, or field more broadly.
A committee composed of Caltech trustees, faculty, senior administrative leaders, and two members of the JPL community performed a substantial search and advised Leshin to Caltechs president. JPL, which was established by Caltech professors and students in 1936, has been handled by Caltech on behalf of NASA because 1958.
Interim director Lt. Gen. James will resume his position as deputy director when Leshin officially presumes her position.