Is the director of JPL stepping down?
Laurie Leshin has decided to step down as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Sunday, June 1. David Gallagher, who has been serving as the Lab’s associate director for Strategic Integration, has been selected by Caltech to lead the federally funded research and development center. And we’ve driven the forefront of technology on Earth and in space. I know those achievements will continue under Dave’s capable leadership. Leshin, who has also served as Caltech vice president, is stepping down for personal reasons and will remain a Bren Professor of Geochemistry and Planetary Science at Caltech.
How many people has JPL laid off?
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is to lay off some 550 employees as part of a restructuring that began in July. The action affects about 11% of JPL’s employees and represents the lab’s third downsizing in the past 20 months. The average NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory salary in United States can vary greatly by role. Annual salaries typically range from $52,626 (or $25) for a Research Intern to $212,717 (or $102) for a Principal Engineer.How much does a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jpl make? As of Nov 1, 2025, the average hourly pay for a Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jpl in the United States is $22.
Are JPL employees civil servants?
The California Institute of Technology operates JPL on behalf of NASA, and JPL staff are Caltech employees rather than federal civil servants. Managed by the California Institute of Technology and based in Pasadena, JPL is NASA’s only federally-funded research and development center. JPL is the result of a Caltech graduate student’s research into rocket propulsion in the late 1930s.