Laurence Douglas Leavitt

1952 - 2017

YORKTOWN, VA. - Laurence D. Leavitt died at home in Yorktown, VA on June 21, 2017. He was born on August 21, 1952 in Knoxville, TN, son of the late H. Douglas and Joyce McKoy Leavitt. After some time in Florida, Tennessee and Indiana, his family settled in Statesboro, GA where he graduated from Statesboro High School in 1970. He graduated from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC where he earned a B. S. in Aerospace Engineering. He was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity while at NC State. While a student in Raleigh, he met Mary Beth Hardy, a student at Meredith College. After graduation in 1975, he was employed as a research engineer at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. That same year, he and Mary beth were married. While working as a researcher in the Propulsion Aerodynamics Branch he was involved in many important research projects aimed at the improvement of aircraft performance, primarily military high performance aircraft. He worked on a number of technologies, but was known for his work in multi-axis thrust vectoring exhaust nozzles, thrust reversers, and propulsion simulation test techniques. In 1980 he received a M. S. Degree in Fluid Dynamics from The George Washington University. For several years he was involved in the development of an efficient propulsion airframe integration on the B-2 Stealth Bomber. In 1987 he became the Group Leader for the Advanced Nozzle Concepts Group within the Branch. In 1990, he became the Assistant Head of the Propulsion Aerodynamics Branch when he was responsible for the research program and operations of the Langley 16 Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel. In 1997, he was named the Head of the Configuration Aerodynamics Branch at Langley and he remained in that role for approximately 12 years. In 2008, he was selected as the Chief Engineer for Aerosciences within the Research Directorate. Prior to his retirement in 2015, he served as Acting Chief Engineer of the Langley Research Center. Over his career, he received two NASA honor awards including the prestigious Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Exceptional Service Medal. He received multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards for his contributions to a variety of programs, and numerous -performance, Superior Achievement, and Center Team awards. From 2001 until 2013, he was an active member of the NATO Research and Technology Organization and a member of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel. He chaired the Performance, Stability and Control, Fluid Physics Technical Committee and a number of international research collaborations, symposia, and workshops. He was an active member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), serving in every office of the local Hampton Roads Section. At the National level, he served three years as Chair of the Associate Fellows Committee and was a member of the Air Breathing Propulsion Systems Integration Technical Committee and the Green Engineering Program Committee. He was a Fellow in the AIAA. Larry was very involved in York sports as his two sons were growing up. He managed and coached in the York County Little League for a dozen years, and prior to the birth of his sons, he coached baseball and soccer in the Phillips Athletic Association. He was ordained a Deacon in the Yorkminster Presbyterian church. He served on the Edgehill Community Board for several years. He loved sailing the Chesapeake Bay and boating on Lake Gaston, playing golf, and riding his bike. He was a member of the Colonial Shag club and with the love of his wife Mary Beth, was known to be a 'decent' shag dancer. Larry is survived by his wife of 41 years, Mary Beth Leavitt; a son, Jonathan M. Leavitt; a sister, Carole L. Davis and her husband David L. Davis; nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Mary Katherine, Stevie, Laura, Michele and Rob; and dear family friends Kayla Waterfield, who has been like a daughter, and her husband Brian Waterfield. He was preceded in death by his first son, Jeffrey D. Leavitt, in 1999, his Father in 2003, and Mother in 2015. The family will receive friends at the Amory Funeral Home, 410 Grafton Drive, Yorktown, VA, on Sunday June 25, 2017 and 3:00 to 5:00 PM. A memorial service will be held at Yorkminster Presbyterian Church, 6218 George Washington Memorial Highway, Grafton, VA, on Monday June 26, 2017 at 2:00 PM. Burial will be private in Peninsula Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to various charities listed in the obituary on Amory Funeral Home's website.