James A. Slavin is a Professor of Space Science at the University of Michigan where he teaches Space Plasma Physics and Planetary Magnetospheres. He is also the Chair of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences. His previous positions include Director of the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Discipline Scientist for Magnetospheric Physics at NASA Headquarters, and Staff Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. Prof. Slavin received his doctorate in Space Physics from the University of California and his baccalaureate in Physics from CWRU in 1976 and1982, respectively. His research focuses on the plasma processes that determine magnetospheric structure and drive plasma dynamics at Earth and the other planets. Prof. Slavin has over 30 years of experience in  the development and operation of space-borne magnetometer systems and their utilization in space and planetary research. Presently he is one of the lead science investigators for the MESSENGER mission orbiting Mercury. He is also a Co-Investigator on the Mangetospheric Multi-Scale, BepiColombo, and JUICE Mission Magnetometer Teams which will conduct intensive, mutli-spacecraft investigations of magnetospheric plasma processes at Earth, Mercury, and Jupiter – Ganymede. Prof. Slavin is the author of over 350 scientific journal articles on magnetospheric physics and the solar wind interactions with planets and comets. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2012), a University of California Regent’s Fellow in Space Physics (2006), and the recipient of NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals for his contributions on the Role of Magnetic Reconnection in Magnetospheric Substorms (2004) and his leadership of the Space Technology – 5 Micro-Satellite Constellation Mission (2008).