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| Thomas Gavin
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PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Mary Beth Murrill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 14, 1997
NEW DEPUTY NAMED FOR JPL SPACE AND EARTH SCIENCE PROGRAMS
Thomas R. Gavin has been appointed to the position of deputy
director for the Space and Earth Science Programs Directorate at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. The appointment
was announced by JPL Director Dr. Edward C. Stone.
Gavin, who served as spacecraft manager for the recently
launched Cassini mission to Saturn, will oversee spacecraft
design and development for JPL's new generation of "faster,
better, cheaper" space science missions.
Gavin joined JPL in 1962 as an associate engineer. In his
early years at JPL he worked in various positions in the Office
of Reliability and Quality Assurance. Later, he served as
product assurance manager on the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft
missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. He was also the
product assurance manager for the Galileo spacecraft, now
completing its primary mission in orbit around Jupiter. Gavin
served as manager of the Hardware Assurance Division from 1989 to
September 1990, when he was appointed spacecraft manager for the
Cassini Program. He served in that capacity through the
mission's successful launch in October.
Born in Upper Darby, PA, Gavin earned a bachelor's degree in
chemistry in 1961 from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He
joined JPL in 1962.
Gavin was awarded NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for his
work on the Voyager project, and is a recipient of NASA's
Outstanding Leadership Medal for his work on the Galileo
spacecraft mission to Jupiter.
Gavin and his wife, Betty, reside in Canyon Country, CA.
They have four children and 14 grandchildren.
JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, CA.
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11-14-97 MBM
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