Larry James

Larry James

Lieutenant General Larry D. James, USAF, Ret., was appointed Deputy Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in August 2013. At JPL he is 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 6200 scientists, engineers, technicians, and business support personnel, generating $2.6 billion in annual revenues.

Prior to his retirement from the Air Force and his appointment as JPL Deputy Director, Lt Gen James was the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance at the Pentagon. He was responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight, and leadership of Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and led more than 20,000 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance officers, enlisted and civilians across the Air Force ISR Enterprise.

Lt Gen James received his Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering (1978) from the US Air Force Academy (Distinguished Graduate) and his Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics (1983) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA. He was also a Draper Fellow at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge MA and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

James' 35 year military career included assignments as a Space Shuttle Payload Specialist, GPS Program Manager, Titan IV Launch Director and Commander of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever AFB, CO. James has also served on the staffs of US Space Command, Air Force Space Command, and HQ Air Force. He was commander of the 14th Air Force at Vandenberg AFB, responsible for all military satellite, launch and C2 operations, and was Director, Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition and Operations Directorate, National Reconnaissance Office, Washington, D.C. He was the Director, Space Forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom at the Combined Air Operations Center, Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.