UT Aerospace Director Returning CalTech to Head NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

PASADENA, CA - The head of an aerospace research center at the University of Texas at Austin will be returning to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech to become the facility's director, the institute announced .

Michael M. Watkins, director of the Center for Space Research in Austin, will take over for Charles Elachi, who is retiring on June 30 but will be a member of the Caltech faculty.

"I've known Mike Watkins for more than 20 years now," Elachi said. "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."

Before taking over the center in Texas, Watkins spent 22 years at JPL, leading or playing key roles on missions including the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, Cassini, Mars Odyssey and Deep Impact. He was also a project scientist on the GRAIL moon-mapping satellites. When he left, he was managing JPL's Science Division and was chief scientist for the Engineering and Science Directorate.

"JPL has such a talented and deeply committed staff," Watkins said. "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."

--City News Service, photo courtes of NASA