Shirley Ann Jackson

Shirley Ann Jackson (born August 5, 1946) is an American physicist. She is President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1973 she became the first African-American women to get a doctorate degree in nuclear physics.^[1] She was also the first to get this degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[2]

In 1995, President Bill Clinton put her in charge of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This group is in charge of nuclear power in the United States. She helped seal the leaks in the nuclear power plant of Chernobyl.

She was named one of the 50 Most Important Women in Science by Discover magazine.^[3] In 2007 the National Science Board gave Jackson the Vannevar Bush Award for "a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy".^[4]

1. ↑ Jessie Carney Smith, Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press, 2013), p. 1689
2. ↑ The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939, eds. Robert L. Harris, Jr.; Rosalyn Terborg-Penn (New York; Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2008), p. 287
3. ↑ "The 50 Most Important Women in Science" Discover Magazine. 1 November 2002.
4. ↑ "Shirley Ann Jackson, leader in Higher Education and Government, to receive the Vannevar Bush Award" NSF. 27 March 2007