Lesa B. Roe has been named director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., the nation’s first civilian aeronautical research facility and NASA’s original field center. She succeeds Roy Bridges, effective Oct. 3. Bridges announced his retirement Friday.

“I am honored to accept this responsibility as Center Director and will do my utmost to serve the interests of NASA, Langley, our employees and the nation,” said Roe. “Yesterday’s announcement of NASA’s plans for accomplishing the vision for space exploration underscores what an exciting and challenging time is before us. I am confident that our Langley team will continue to rise to the occasion.”

Roe, who has been serving as deputy director at Langley, will be the senior management official of the laboratory employing approximately 2,100 civil service personnel. She will be responsible for the center’s aeronautical and space research programs, as well as facilities, personnel and administration.

Roe served as Langley associate director for business management from August 2003 until being named deputy director. She has more than 20 years experience in engineering, technical and managerial positions, working for both government and private industry. Her background includes two years in NASA center leadership, four years International Space Station program management, nine years experience in technical management and project engineering and five years experience in radio frequency communications test and payload systems engineering.

Roe started her engineering career performing satellite communications analysis for Hughes Space and Communications in El Segundo, Calif. She began her NASA career at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in 1987 as a radio frequency communications engineer in the Space Shuttle Engineering Directorate. She also managed the International Space Station Payloads Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida at Gainesville and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

For more information about Roe or NASA, visit the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov