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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