PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 1987

       Kirk Dawson has been appointed to the position of assistant laboratory director for the Office of Technical Divisions of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL Director Dr. Lew Allen announced.

       Dawson, 48, is currently deputy assistant laboratory director for technical divisions. He replaces Clarence R. Gates, who has been named associate director of JPL. Their appointments take effect Aug. 1.

       In 1962, Dawson joined the Laboratory as an engineer. He became supervisor of the Power Systems Group in 1968. From 1970 to 1976 he was manager of the Guidance and Control Section and from 1976 to 1982 he served as manager of the Control and Energy Conservation Division.

       Dawson earned B.A. in physics from Occidental College and B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Caltech in 1961 and 1962. He is member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the honorary physics society Sigma Pi Sigma, and the honorary mathematics society Kappa Mu Epsilon. Dawson is also on the board of directors of California Engineering Foundation.

       Dawson was born in Los Angeles, Calif. He is married, has two children, and resides in La Canada- Flintridge, Calif.

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