NASA Announces Clayton Turner as New Director of Langley Research Center

Via NASA

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Monday the selection of Clayton Turner as the next director of the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Turner will assume the director’s position Monday, Sept. 30, when current Center Director David Bowles retires after 39 years with the agency.

Since 2015, Turner has served as Langley’s deputy center director. As center director, he will lead a diverse group of about 3,400 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers and support staff, who work to make revolutionary improvements to aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration.

“Clayton’s wide range of engineering and leadership experience will serve Langley and the agency well as our Artemis program works to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 to prepare to go to Mars,” said Bridenstine. “I also want to thank David for four decades of public service from Langley, where he addressed the challenges associated with space and air travel, as well as developing future aviation vehicles. His contributions to NASA and America are appreciated.”

Prior to his appointment as deputy center director, Turner served as the associate director responsible for managing daily operations with a focus on center commitments. In this capacity, he was responsible for aligning Langley’s institutional resources and infrastructure to meet current and future NASA mission needs. Turner also served as director of the Engineering Directorate at Langley. In this capacity, he was responsible for the conceptualization, design, development and delivery of ground and flight systems and for designing, enabling and implementing engineering capabilities to meet NASA missions.

Learn more about Clayton Turner!