spacetoday.net: Leshin to be next director of JPL

Leshin to be next director of JPL

Posted: Sat, Jan 29, 2022, 10:37 AM ET (1537 GMT)
A planetary scientist and university president will be the first woman to lead NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Caltech, which operates JPL for NASA, announced Thursday it selected Laurie Leshin as the next director of JPL, effective in May. Leshin is currently president of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and previously held positions at NASA Headquarters and the Goddard Space Flight Center. She also is on the science team for the Curiosity Mars rover. She will become the first woman to lead JPL, established by Caltech in 1936 and operated by the university for NASA since 1958.