Laurie Leshin will be the first women director of JPL
Laurie Leshin will assume her role as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in May, the first woman ever in the role. (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
Laurie Leshin, who is a NASA veteran and Caltech alumni, will become the first female Jet Propulsions Laboratory (JPL) director. She was chosen for outstanding career performance. Her priorities are to create technology and focus on exploration, such as collecting Martian soil samples, focusing on the mission to Jupiter’s Moon Europa, and to mitigate Climate change back on earth. Approximately 31% of the employees at JPL are women. This has become a landmark case for women equality in the field of technology and science. Leshin has a proven track record with doctoral degrees in geochemistry and post doctoral fellowship at UCLA. As a woman in a high position, she can inspire hope in young women who might also want to pursue leadership positions in science and technology careers.
