On October 7, JPLers gathered for a fireside chat with Caltech President Ray Jayawardhana, who spoke about his lifelong fascination with space, early reflections from his presidency, and Caltech and JPL’s 90‑year partnership.
JPLers gathered for a fireside chat with Caltech President Ray Jayawardhana and Caltech Vice President and JPL Director Dave Gallagher in JPL’s Pickering Auditorium on October 7. The conversation offered insights into Jayawardhana’s lifelong fascination with space, reflections from the first few months of his presidency, a deeper dive on Caltech and JPL’s 90‑year partnership, and a glimpse of the breakthroughs that will define the decades ahead.
Jayawardhana, an active astrophysicist and award‑winning science communicator, quickly drew the audience in with stories from his childhood in Sri Lanka—where books, magazines, and radio programs (many of which highlighted JPL missions) sparked the curiosity that eventually led him to astronomy.
He described the present moment in astronomy as “comparable to when Galileo turned his telescope at the heavens 400 years ago,” noting that the discovery of more than 6,000 exoplanets in the past three decades has fundamentally transformed our understanding of the universe. His own group’s work using ground‑ and space‑based telescopes such as James Webb focuses on characterizing these alien worlds orbiting nearby stars as well as free-floating planetary‑mass objects in star-forming regions.
The audience also heard Jayawardhana reflect on what drew him to the opportunity to serve as Caltech’s president, where he highlighted the Institute’s unwavering commitment to excellence and caliber of talent, its outsized global impact, and unparalleled partnership with JPL.
“Growing up on the other side of the planet, this place in Pasadena created an impression. I think both institutions, Caltech and JPL—particularly together—matter for the country and for humanity. I really do think that we need the science, we need the technology, but we also need the hope and inspiration. We need both the tangible and intangible value this place brings to the world.”
Jayawardhana emphasized that the Caltech JPL ecosystem forms a “virtuous cycle,” where ideas developed on campus are expanded, tested, and made real at the Lab, producing capabilities that feed back into fundamental research. He pointed to breakthroughs in robotics, quantum science, Earth science, detectors, instrumentation, and more as evidence of a deeply interdependent innovation pipeline.
Addressing NASA’s active competition for JPL’s management contract, Jayawardhana underscored his full commitment to the process and the future of JPL: “I also want to think about this moment, not just for the sake of the competition… but to really position [the Lab] for even greater impact, even greater success for decades to come.”
Looking ahead, Jayawardhana highlighted computational and quantum technologies and next‑generation instrumentation as areas that will advance discovery. He also applauded JPL’s resilience through challenges over the past few years and encouraged the workforce to think boldly about the next five, 10, and 20 years.
As the discussion wrapped, Jayawardhana reflected on JPL’s renewed momentum around hiring, mission progress, and business diversification through the Caltech Contracting Mechanism. He closed with a wish for JPL’s 90th year, sharing the T.S. Eliot quote he first encountered on the JPL viewbook he received as a teenager: “That we shall not cease from exploration.”