Shirley Ann Jackson

Biography

Abstract

Shirley Ann Jackson is President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1999-present). Her other institutional affiliations include Bell Laboratories and Rutgers University. Jackson’s research specialties include condensed matter physics and the physics of opto-electronic materials.

Important Dates

August 5, 1946Birth, Washington (D.C.).

1968Obtained SB, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1973Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1973 – 1974Research Associate in Theoretical Physics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

1974 – 1975Visiting Scientific Associate, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

1975 – 1976Research Associate in Theoretical Physics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

1975 – 1985Member, Board of Trustees, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

1976 – 1984Member, Technical Staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).

1981 – 1982Member, Committee on Education and Employment of Women in Science and Engineering, National Academy of Sciences.

1984 – 1991Member, Technical Staff, AT & T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).

1991 – 1995Professor of Physics, Rutgers University.

1995 – 1999Chair, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

1999 – 2015President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy (N.Y.).

2005President, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Occupation

Theoretical physicist.

Places

Birth

Washington (D.C.)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Murray Hill (N.J.)

Troy (N.Y.)

Subjects

African American physicists.

Condensed matter.

Liquid helium.

Optoelectronics.

Theoretical physics.

Women in science.

Women physicists.

Relationships

People

Colleagues

Abrahams, Elihu

Both employed at Rutgers University.

Aeppli, Gabriel

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Ahlers, G. (Günter)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Alivisatos, P.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Appelbaum, J. A. (Joel A.)

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Ashkin, Arthur, 1922-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Aspnes, D. E.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bardeen, William A.

Both employed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Bishop, David John, 1951-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Boyle, Willard S., 1924-2011

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Brinkman, William F. (William Frank), 1938-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Buchsbaum, Solomon J.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Bucksbaum, Philip H.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Cava, Robert J.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Chabal, Yves Jean, 1952-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Chemla, D. S.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Chu, Steven

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Chynoweth, A. G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Clogston, Albert McCavour

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Coppersmith, Susan Nan

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Cutler, Cassius Chapin

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

DiSalvo, Francis

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Dolan, Gerald

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Dynes, Robert C.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Eigler, Donald

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Eisenstein, James P. (James Philip)

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Fleury, Paul A.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Fulton, Theodore Alan

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Gossard, A. C.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Greene, Laura H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hagstrum, Homer D.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Haldane, F. Duncan M.

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Halperin, Bertrand I.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hamann, Donald, 1939-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Hellman, Frances

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hohenberg, Pierre C.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Hopfield, John J.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Isaacs, Eric D.

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Johnson, Peter D., 1952-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Laughlin, Robert B.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lebowitz, Joel Louis, 1930-

Both employed at Rutgers University.

Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Matthias, Bernd T., 1918-1980

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Millis, Andrew J.

Both employed at AT & T Bell Laboratories.

Murray, Cherry Ann

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Narath, Albert, 1933-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Osheroff, Douglas D.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Patel, C. Kumar N.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Penzias, Arno A.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Peoples, John, Jr.

Both employed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Pfann, William G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Phillips, J. C.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Phillips, Julia M.

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Pinczuk, Aron

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Raghavachari, Krishnan

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Rice, Thomas Maurice, 1939-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Rowell, John Martin, 1935-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Seiberg, Nathan

Both employed at Rutgers University.

Shank, C. V. (Charles V.)

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Smith, George E., 1930-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Smith, Neville, 1942-2006

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Stillinger, F. H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Störmer, Horst

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Tank, David William, 1953-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Thomas, D. G. (David Gilbert), 1928-

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Tsui, D. C. (Daniel Chee), 1939-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Weeks, John David

Both employed at Bell Laboratories.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Wilson, Robert Woodrow, 1936-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Zamolodchikov, A. B., 1952-

Both employed at Rutgers University.

Additional

Mickens, Ronald E., 1943-

Sullivan, Otha Richard, 1941-

Institutions

Major Positions

AT & T Bell Laboratories

Member, Technical staff.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Member, Technical staff.

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Research Associate in Theoretical Physics.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

President.

Rutgers University. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science

President.

European Organization for Nuclear Research

Visiting Scientific Associate.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Member, Board of Trustees.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained SB (1968) and PhD (1973).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member, Committee on Education and Employment of Women in Science and Engineering.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Chair.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

HistoryMakers oral history interviews with African American physicists [videorecording], 2001-2012.

HistoryMakers

1900 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60616, USA

Shirley Ann Jackson speech [sound recording], 1985 August 9.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Subject

Contributions of 20th century women to physics [online resource], 1900-1976.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Exceptional Black Scientists collection, 1971-1986 (bulk 1980-1984).

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division

New York Public Library

515 E. Malcolm X Ave., New York, NY 10037, USA.

Ronald E. Mickens collection on African-American physicists, circa 1950-2008.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

MIT150 "Infinite History" interview.

Shirley Ann Jackson interviewed by Elon President Leo M. Lambert.

Subject

African American women scientists and inventors / Otha Richard Sullivan ; Jim Haskins, general editor.

Sisters in science : conversations with black women scientists about race, gender, and their passion for science / [interviews by] Diann Jordan.

Strong force : the story of physicist Shirley Ann Jackson / by Diane O'Connell.