Before taking the helm at WPI in 2014, President Laurie Leshin, a geochemist and space scientist, had a passion for space and a lifelong fascination with Mars. Her professional career set her on a path to NASA where she shaped future human spaceflight programs and activities as the deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. She also held roles as the director of NASA’s Sciences and Exploration Directorate, and as the deputy center director for Science & Technology at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.