Space Scientist and Higher Education Leader Laurie Leshin To Deliver 2026 Commencement Address

Laurie Leshin, distinguished space scientist and higher education leader, will deliver the keynote address at Harvey Mudd College’s 68th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17.

Leshin served as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from mid-2022 to 2025 where she oversaw the successful development and launch of major NASA missions furthering planetary exploration, astrophysics and Earth science. Previously, as a senior NASA space scientist, Leshin served in several leadership positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, leading strategy, planning and implementation of more than 50 Earth and space flight projects. She then moved to NASA Headquarters as deputy associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, overseeing future human spaceflight.  

Leshin’s many honors include NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 4922 Leshin to honor her contributions to planetary science. She advised President George W. Bush on space policy, and President Barack Obama appointed her to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum advisory board. In higher education, she has served as president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, dean of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Science, Bren Professor of Geochemistry and Planetary Science at Caltech, and has just begun a position as university professor for space futures at Arizona State University.

The College’s 68th Commencement will be held at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, May 17, on the Harvey S. Mudd Quadrangle.