Perez Davis .jpg

Dr. Marla E. Perez-Davis has been appointed NASA Glenn Research Center's deputy director.

(Photo courtesy of NASA Glenn Research Center)

WASHINGTON - The first female director of Brook Park's NASA Glenn Research Center has selected a longtime Glenn engineer for the facility's #2 job.

Dr. Marla E. Perez-Davis - who most recently served as Glenn's Deputy Director of Research and Engineering - was appointed deputy director of the entire facility by Dr. Janet Kavandi, who held that position before her elevation to the top job in March.

"Marla's demonstrated leadership in managing all phases of Glenn's research and engineering activities, combined with her experience in the areas of aeronautics, business management and safety assurance, makes her ideally suited to meet the demands required of the deputy director," Kavandi said in a press announcement.

Perez-Davis will work with Kavandi on planning, organizing and managing the agency level programs and projects assigned to the center, the press announcement said.

A native of Puerto Rico, Perez-Davis joined Glenn in 1983. In past years, she directed its aeronautics research office and headed its electrochemistry branch, among other posts. In 2003, she was selected as the first recipient of of NASA's Aerospace Awareness Award.

Other women who hold prominent posts at NASA include agency Deputy Administrator Dava Newman and Dr. Ellen Ochoa, a veteran astronaut who heads the Johnson Space Center in Houston.