Shirley A. Jackson, a theoretical physicist, was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973). She is president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York, and has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe. Her research and policy focus includes energy security and the national capacity for innovation, including addressing the “Quiet Crisis” of looming gaps in the science, technology, and engineering workforce and reduced support for basic research. Dr. Jackson was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (19951999). She is a vice chairman of the Council on Competitiveness and co-chairs its Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability initiative. She is past president (2004) and chairman of the board (2005) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and of the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and AAAS. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE Euronext, and serves on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and as a director of IBM, FedEx, Marathon Oil, Medtronic, and PSEG. Dr. Jackson also is a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. Calling her a “national treasure,” the National Science Board selected her as its 2007 Vannevar Bush Award recipient for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”

Links to Additional Information

Profile from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

"Leadership for a Comprehensive Energy Roadmap: The First 100 Days" an address by Shirley Ann Jackson to the National Press Club, Sept. 9, 2008