posted 05-02-2016 03:29 PM               

Michael Watkins Named Next JPL Director

Michael M. Watkins, the Clare Cockrell Williams Centennial Chair in Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Center for Space Research at The University of Texas at Austin, has been appointed director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president at Caltech, the Institute announced today.

Watkins will formally assume his position on July 1, 2016. He succeeds Charles Elachi, who will retire as of June 30, 2016, and move to the Caltech faculty.

Watkins is an internationally recognized scientist and engineer. Prior to assuming his current position at The University of Texas in 2015, he worked at JPL for 22 years, where he held leadership roles on some of NASA's highest-profile missions. Watkins served as mission manager and mission system manager for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover; led review or development teams for several missions including the Cassini, Mars Odyssey, and Deep Impact probes; and was the project scientist leading science development for the GRAIL moon-mapping satellites, the GRACE Earth science mission, and the GRACE Follow-on mission, scheduled for launch in 2017. He last served at JPL as manager of the Science Division, and chief scientist for the Engineering and Science Directorate.

"Michael's record of successful mission leadership and impressive management skills quickly distinguished him as a leading candidate for this position," says Caltech president Thomas F. Rosenbaum, the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and professor of physics. "As JPL director, Michael will build upon the laboratory's outstanding achievements in planetary exploration and Earth science, strengthening the connections between Caltech's campuses and partnering with NASA to deliver highly complex and nuanced missions."

"I've known Mike Watkins for more than 20 years now," Elachi says. "Mike has played important and varying roles in a number of important JPL areas. His intimate knowledge of the lab and staff, combined with his highly diversified set of skills and knowledge base in science and engineering, will serve JPL very well in the years to come."

A committee composed of Caltech trustees, faculty, senior administrative leaders, and a member of the JPL executive council conducted an extensive search and recommended Watkins to Caltech's president.

Watkins holds a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. He has published broadly in both engineering and science, contributed more than 100 conference presentations, and has served on the boards of numerous international scientific and engineering societies.

"JPL has such a talented and deeply committed staff," says Watkins. "It is a privilege to have this opportunity to lead the laboratory to even greater discoveries. I look forward to working with my colleagues on campus and across NASA to forge new directions in space exploration and Earth science."

Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

posted 08-09-2021 12:42 PM               

JPL Director Michael Watkins to Return to Academia

After having served five years as director of JPL, Michael Watkins will move to the Caltech campus as professor of aerospace and geophysics. Larry D. James becomes interim director of JPL.

JPL Director Michael Watkins announced Monday he will step down from his position as the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to resume his academic and research career at Caltech as professor of aerospace and geophysics. His last day as JPL director will be Aug. 20. JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed by Caltech for NASA.

"There is no place in the world like JPL. It has truly been the great joy of my life to dedicate almost three decades to JPL, and to spend the last five years leading the Lab is the highest honor," Watkins said in his announcement Monday to JPL's 6,000 employees. "I treasure above all my interactions with the incredible people who make JPL what it is and who dedicate lifetimes to mission success after mission success."

Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum joined in the announcement and thanked Watkins for his leadership as director. "Since 2015, Mike has led JPL with consummate skill and determined dedication, working closely with NASA to ensure continuation of JPL's tradition of setting new scientific and engineering milestones and captivating the world with pathbreaking missions," Rosenbaum wrote to faculty and staff. "Mike has helped to shepherd a new age of exploration that has deepened understanding of the universe and our place within it."

Under Watkins' tenure as director, JPL has launched and operated several new missions for NASA, including Earth missions ECOSTRESS, Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, GRACE Follow-On, and Sentinel 6 Michael Freilich. Planetary missions include the ongoing operations of Juno at Jupiter, as well as the launches and landings of the InSight mission and Perseverance rover on Mars. Watkins has also guided futures missions in development, including the Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, the Mars Sample Return campaign, and the VERITAS mission to Venus.

Watkins, an engineer and scientist, worked at JPL for 22 years before becoming its director. He has served as chief scientist for the Laboratory's Engineering and Science Directorate, manager of JPL's Science Division, and manager of its Navigation and Mission Design Section. He was mission manager from development through landed operations for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which sent the Curiosity rover to Mars. He also originated the concept for the GRACE and GRACE Follow-On missions, which use a pair of Earth-orbiting satellites to make detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field.

Larry D. James, JPL's deputy director since 2013, will serve as interim JPL director and also vice president at Caltech until a successor for Watkins is selected. As deputy director, James has acted as the Laboratory's chief operating officer leading the day-to-day management of JPL's resources and activities. Prior to his appointment as deputy director, Lt. Gen. James had a 35-year career in the U.S. Air Force, where he held multiple roles, including commander of the 14th Air Force at Vandenberg AFB and Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at the Pentagon.

Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum has formed a search committee to find the next director of JPL.