MadameNoire
Source: Noam Galai/WireImage / Getty
Name: Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson
Title: President of RPI
SpeakHER Greatness: Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson credits her parents for setting the foundation for her later success in STEM education. The Washington D.C. native says her mother had her and her siblings reading before they were in kindergarten and that her mom was mathematically minded and nurtured her interests in math and science.
That nurturing paid off. Jackson blazed a career path that includes having the distinct honor of becoming the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from MIT. She is a theoretical physicist who received an S.B. (bachelor of science) in physics, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics both from MIT. During her time at MIT, she advocated for the recruitment of Black students and co-founded the Black Students Union in 1968.
“For a long time, I didn’t necessarily think of myself as a role model, but then I came around on that and decided that if what I had accomplished could be motivational and encouraging to other young African-American women, young women and to other African Americans and minorities broadly, then that would be a good thing,” she said in a hometown interview.
She has also held senior positions in government, industry, academia and research. Today, she is the 19th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a permanent member of the MIT Corporation.
