Lieutenant General Larry James (USAF Ret)

Professor of Space Innovation Monash University and Strategic Advisor SmartSat CRC

Lt Gen (Ret) Larry D. James is the Strategic Advisor for SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre in Adelaide Australia and Professor of Space Innovation at Monash University in Melbourne Australia in June 2024. In the SmartSat role he provides advocacy, technical advice and support for SmartSat’s R&D, innovation and educational activities. At Monash he makes significant international leadership contributions and fosters excellence in the teaching, research, industry engagement and professional activities of aerospace and related fields.

Lt Gen James has a distinguished military career working in large-scale operations, intelligence and acquisition assignments. In the civil sector, he also contributed significantly to the advancement of space exploration projects.

He was the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2013-2024. He oversaw the day-to-day management of JPL’s resources and activities, which included solar system exploration, Mars, astronomy, physics, Earth science, interplanetary network programs, and all business operations.

Prior to his retirement from active duty in 2013, Lt. Gen. James was the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) at the Pentagon. He was responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force for policy formulation, planning, evaluation, oversight, and leadership of Air Force ISR capabilities and led more than 20,000 officers, enlisted and civilians across the Air Force ISR Enterprise.

Lt. Gen. James received his bachelor’s degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy (Distinguished Graduate) and his master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

He was also a Draper Fellow at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass.