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Shirley Ann Jackson - Eminent Educator, Researcher, Administrator

© Jackie DiGiovanni

Shirley Ann Jackson was born August 5, 1946, in Washington, DC. Her parents are Beatrice Cosby Jackson, a social worker, and George H Jackson, a postal employee. Both parents encouraged education for all their children. Jackson quotes her father as saying, "Aim for the stars so that you can reach the treetops, and at least you'll get off the ground." Jackson was passionate about science at an early age; she set up a bee-keeping project under the family front porch. She and her younger sister built go-carts.

Dr. Jackson believes the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision to require desegregation of public schools opened up better educational opportunities for minorities, and the October 1957 launch of the Soviet Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite, provided a re-energized interest in science and technology. The time in history, her upbringing, her parent's strong support for learning, and her own keen interest in science launched a remarkable life and career. Jackson graduated valedictorian of her high school and went on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study physics.

Dr. Jackson was politically active during college and organized the Black Student Association, working to increase the number of minority students on campus. Jackson graduated from MIT with an SB in physics in 1968 and a PhD in physics in 1973. She is the first African-American women to obtain a PhD from MIT.

Dr. Jackson worked as a research associate at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from 1973 to 1974, and as a Visiting Science Associate at the European Organization for Nuclear Research from 1974 to 1975. She returned to Fermi from 1975 to 1976, and worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Aspen Center for Physics from 1976 to 1977. From 1976 to 1978, Dr. Jackson was on the Technical Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories in theoretical physics. In 1978, Jackson worked with the Technical Staff of the Scattering and Low Energy Physics Research Laboratory of Bell Telephone Laboratories. In 1976 Jackson began at AT&T Bell Laboratories as a theoretical physicist.

In 1991, Dr. Jackson accepted a position as professor of physics at Rutgers University, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as conducting research, and advising PhD candidates. She also worked as a consultant to AT&T Bell Laboratories.

In 1995, Jackson was appointed Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission where she served until 1999. She is known for establishing modern business practices at the commission and for the creation of the International Nuclear Regulators Association that includes senior nuclear regulatory people from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.

Jackson was named President of Rensselaer Polytechnic

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