Larry D. James | |
---|---|
InterimDirector of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory | |
In office August 21, 2021 –May 16, 2022 | |
Preceded by | Michael M. Watkins |
Succeeded by | Laurie Leshin |
Personal details | |
Born | 1956 (age 67–68) |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Air Force |
Years of service | 1978–2013 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands held | 14th Air Force Joint Functional Component Command for Space 50th Space Wing 614th Space Operations Group 5th Space Launch Squadron 45th Spacecraft Operations Squadron |
Awards | Defense Superior Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (4) Bronze Star Medal |
Lieutenant General Larry D. James is a former senior officer in the United States Air Force and is currently a civilian NASA administrator. He is the deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, [1] where he also acted as the interim director from August 21,2021 to May 16,2022. [2] He acts as the Laboratory's Chief Operating Officer responsible to the Director for the day-to-day management of JPL's resources and activities. This includes managing the Laboratory's solar system exploration,Mars,astronomy,physics,Earth science,interplanetary network programs,and all business operations. These activities employ 5000 scientists,engineers,technicians,and business support personnel,generating $1.8 billion in annual revenues. Prior to his current role,he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence,Surveillance and Reconnaissance,Headquarters United States Air Force. James' prior commands included the 14th Air Force and Joint Functional Component Command for Space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Larry James graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,Colorado in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science in astronautical engineering. In 1983,he received his Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge,Massachusetts.
James entered the Air Force as a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy in 1978. His career spanned a wide variety of space operations and acquisition assignments,including astronaut in the Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program,Air Staff program element monitor,Global Positioning System satellite program manager,and Chief of Operations,14th Air Force.
James has commanded at the squadron,group and wing levels,and was Vice Commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center. He has served on the staffs of Headquarters United States Air Force,United States Space Command and Air Force Space Command. He also served as the Senior Space Officer for Operation Iraqi Freedom at Prince Sultan Air Base,Saudi Arabia. Prior to his last assignment,the general was Vice Commander,5th Air Force,and Deputy Commander,13th Air Force,Yokota Air Base,Japan.
James was previously assigned as Commander,14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic),Air Force Space Command,and Commander,Joint Functional Component Command for Space,United States Strategic Command,Vandenberg Air Force Base. As the Air Force's operational space component to USSTRATCOM,James led more than 20,500 personnel responsible for providing missile warning,space superiority,space situational awareness,satellite operations,space launch and range operations. As Commander,JFCC SPACE,he directed all assigned and attached USSTRATCOM space forces.
James retired from the Air Force on August 1,2013, [3] and assumed the role of deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on September 23,2013. He became the interim director of JPL in August 2021,following the return of former JPL director Michael Watkins to academia. [1] He resumed his role of deputy director for JPL following the appointment of Laurie Leshin to the director position on May 16,2022. [4]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center in La Cañada Flintridge,California,Crescenta Valley,United States. Founded in 1936 by Caltech researchers,the laboratory is now owned and sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and administered and managed by the California Institute of Technology.
Lew Allen Jr. was a United States Air Force four-star general who served as the tenth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. As chief of staff,Allen served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization,training,and equipping of 750,000 active duty Air Force,Air National Guard,Air Force Reserve,and civilian personnel serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,he and the other service chiefs function(ed) as the military advisers to the Secretary of Defense,the National Security Council,and the president.
General Larry D. Welch is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who served as the 12th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. As Chief of Staff,he served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization,training and equipping of a combined active duty,Guard,Reserve and civilian force serving at locations in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,he and the other service chiefs functioned as the principal military advisers to the Secretary of Defense,National Security Council and the President. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Nuclear Weapon Surety Task Force for the Defense Science Board.
General Donald Joseph Kutyna is a retired United States Air Force officer. He was commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Space Command from 1990 to 1992,and commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base,Colorado from 1987 to 1990.
Thomas Samuel Moorman Jr. was a United States Air Force officer who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from July 1994 to August 1997.
Retired Maj. Gen. Roosevelt Mercer Jr.,SES,is the director of the Interagency Planning Office (IPO) for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) at the Federal Aviation Administration where he provides high-level leadership for interagency and international collaboration related to NextGen. He executes the collaborative processes needed to ensure efficient coordination among all federal partners whose decisions impact NextGen. The federal partner agencies include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),Department of Defense (DoD),Department of Homeland Security (DHS),Department of Commerce (DOC),National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB),National Science Foundation (NSF),and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),as well as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as an ex officio participant. Mr. Mercer is charged with providing executive direction to a dynamic multi-agency and international partnering organization focused on future NextGen technology,policy,and collaborative activities.
Elizabeth Ann Hight is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who served as the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). She assumed this post in December 2007. In 2008,she was nominated for appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as director,Defense Information Systems Agency;commander,Joint Task Force –Global Network Operations;and deputy commander,U.S. Strategic Command Global Network Operations and Defense,Arlington,Virginia. Her nomination was rejected by the Senate due to a perceived conflict of interest with her husband,retired Air Force Brigadier General Gary Salisbury,who is vice president of business development and sales for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s mission systems sector,defense mission systems division. She retired from the Navy in 2010.
Brigadier General Cary C. Chun is a retired senior officer of the United States Air Force. He served as the Deputy Commander,Operations and Interagency Integration,Joint Functional Component Command for Space,United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM),and the Director for Mission Operations,National Reconnaissance Office. In this role,he led all Department of Defense space forces aligned with USSTRATCOM and provided tailored,responsive,local and global effects in support of national,USSTRATCOM and combatant commander objectives. As Director for Mission Operations,he led operations for all NRO overhead reconnaissance systems,ground stations,operational communications,and the operations center used to conduct intelligence activities essential for the national security of the United States and its allies.
Eugene L. Tattini is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and served as deputy director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from July 2001 to September 2013.
C. Donald Alston is a retired major general in the United States Air Force.
Russell John Anarde is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air Force.
Alvin Roubal Luedecke was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. He commanded the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project after the war. After retiring from the Air Force in 1958,he was General Manager of the United States Atomic Energy Commission,Deputy Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and acting President of Texas A&M University from March 30,1970,to November 1,1970.
Laurie Leshin is an American scientist and academic administrator serving as the 10th Director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and as Vice President and Bren Professor of Geochemistry and Planetary Science at California Institute of Technology. Leshin's research has focused on geochemistry and space science. Leshin previously served as the 16th president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Robert C. Hinson is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.
J. Gregory Pavlovich is a former brigadier general in the United States Air Force he joined in 1975 and retired in 2005. After being assigned to units within Europe he returned to the United States,and became executive program director in the Office of the Inspector General,U.S. Department of Defense. In 1994,he was named chief of strategic planning and business process integration at the Defense Logistics Agency. The following year,he became assistant executive director of the Readiness Group. In 1998,he became the vice commander of the 341st Space Wing. He assumed command of the wing later that year. In 2000,he was assigned to Air Force Space Command as deputy director of operations. He became commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base.
Major General Robert Alan "Rosie" Rosenberg of United States Air Force was Director of Defense Mapping Agency from July 1985 to September 1987. Throughout his 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force,he was instrumental to the U.S. satellite program. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2005.
Stephen L. Davis is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who serves as the Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force since March 2022. He most recently served as the director of global power programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition,Technology and Logistics. Previously,he was the director for global operations of the United States Strategic Command.
Joseph Sylvester Bleymaier was a major general in the United States Air Force (USAF). He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1941,and flew 25 combat missions in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II.
Michael Edward Conley is a United States Air Force lieutenant general who has served as the commander of Air Force Special Operations Command since July 2,2024. Conley most recently served as the director of operations of the Air Force Special Operations Command from 2023 to 2024. He also served as the director of strategic plans,requirements,and programs of the Air Mobility Command from 2022 to 2023,and as the deputy commander of the Combined Force Space Component Command from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that,he was commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing of the United States Air Force from 2018 to 2020.
Charles Houston Terhune Jr. was a United States Air Force (USAF) lieutenant general who played an important role in the development of the American jet aircraft,guided missiles and ballistic missiles.