PLANETARY EXPLORATION NEWSLETTER
Volume 18, Number 10 (March 8, 2024)

PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org
Editor: Mark V. Sykes 
Co-Editors: Matthew R. Perry, Alex Morgan
Email: pen_editor at psi.edu
Twitter: @pen2tweets

o--------------------------SPECIAL EDITION----------------------------o

PLANETARY SCIENCE INSTITUTE CEO POSITION

After more than 20 years, Mark Sykes will be stepping down as CEO and 
Director of the Planetary Science Institute at the end of 2025. Over 
that time, PSI has witnessed profound growth, from 18 PhDs and 32 total 
employees in 2003, to 134 PhDs and 186 employees in 35 states, the 
District of Columbia, and numerous international locations today. The 
reach of science conducted by PSI today covers all traditional areas of 
planetary science and is carving inroads into new areas of study 
enabled by the discovery of thousands of new worlds around other stars 
in our galaxy, and by the increasingly granular information being 
returned in the exploration of worlds in our own Solar System, 
including Earth. PSI scientists are committed to sharing the resultant 
knowledge with the public at large to promote science education and 
science literacy. They engage the public in the process of science and 
are ambassadors to communities where science is often viewed 
skeptically. By the breadth and quality of its science staff, PSI is 
one of the pre-eminent planetary research institutes in the world. The 
new CEO is expected to provide visionary scientific leadership and 
facilitate a new era of scientific accomplishment by the Institute.

PSI is a very interconnected community of scientists, educators, and 
Institute staff. We help each other to be successful in our 
professional and even personal endeavors. We celebrate each other's 
accomplishments and support each other in adversity. The CEO, by 
example and action, helps to foster this Institutional culture. The 
Institute has a broadly horizontal organizational structure, in which 
the CEO engages all staff without bureaucratic barriers. The CEO is a 
strong advocate on behalf of our scientists and other employees to 
secure and sustain external funding. The CEO supports the ambitions of 
our employees.

We have a very dedicated and accomplished administrative staff with 
whom the CEO works every day. As a deeply experienced scientist, the 
CEO can anticipate and assess the impacts to scientists of contemplated 
administrative actions and policies in real time. All PSI employees are 
given voice to the decision-making process on critical-path policies 
and procedures, including in choosing the next CEO.

We are committed and look forward to a smooth transition. To ensure 
continuity, the future CEO will be initially hired as Deputy CEO, to 
work with Mark for up to 6 months to acclimatize to the dynamic 
environment of the job, understand the workflows across all 
departments, learn our regulatory environment, and build connections 
and confidence across the entire Institute. Everyone looks forward to 
engaging and supporting the new CEO as that person takes the Institute 
into a vibrant future.

If you are interested in this position, please see the posting at:

https://www.psi.edu/about/jobs/


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