Larry N. Dumas has been named assistant laboratory director for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Office of Telecommunications and Data Acquisition, JPL Director Dr. Lew Allen announced.
Dumas, 50, replaces Dr. Peter T. Lyman, who was appointed deputy director of JPL. Since 1986, Dumas was manager of the JPL's Mechanical and Chemical Systems Division. He joined JPL in 1962 as spacecraft temperature control engineer. Since then, he has held several supervisory and management positions, including: operations manager of the Flat Plate Solar Array Project (1975 to 1981); manager of the Space Program Engineering Section (1981 to 1984), and manager of the System Integration Section (1984 to 1986).
Dumas received B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1958 and 1962. As U.S. Navy officer from 1958 to 1961, Dumas served in the field of shipboard communications and engineering.
He is an associate member of Sigma Xi, fellow of the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering, and member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is past chairman of the Los Angeles Section of the ASME, and he has been member of the board of directors of the Caltech Management Association since 1985. Dumas received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal in 1972 for his work on the Mariner Mars spacecraft, and in 1981 for his work on the Voyager spacecraft.
Dumas was born in Wilson, Oklahoma. He is married, has two children, and resides in Pasadena, Calif.
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