Shirley Ann Jackson

This article is about the scientist and university administrator. For the writer, see Shirley Jackson.

Shirley Ann Jackson
Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board
In office
August 29, 2014 – January 20, 2017
Serving with Jami Miscik
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byDavid Boren
Chuck Hagel
Succeeded bySteve Feinberg
President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
In office
July 1, 1999 – July 1, 2022
Preceded byCornelius Barton
Succeeded byMartin A. Schmidt
Personal details
Born (1946-08-05) August 5, 1946 (age 78)
Washington, D.C.
SpouseMorris Washington
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS, PhD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Shirley Ann Jackson, FREng (born August 5, 1946) is an American physicist, and was the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African American woman to have earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics,[1] and the first African American woman to have earned a doctorate at MIT in any field.[2] She is also the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics.[3]

  1. ^ "Shirley Jackson at MIT, 1973". MIT Black History. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference sQ2pz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference DiscoverMag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).