James W. Plummer

Who was James W. Plummer?

James W. Plummer was an engineer who served as the fifth Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Plummer was the first Director NRO to come from private industry. He previously served as the Lockheed Corporation program manager for the CORONA and LANYARD imaging systems. Plummer focused on developing the second generation of U.S. satellites - the electro-optical systems. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in 1953. In 2005 he received the Charles Stark Draper Prize for his contributions to the CORONA project. He died at Medford, Oregon in 2013. He was 92.