![Profile picture for user Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson](/sites/default/files/pictures/2020-01/Jackson%20portrait-cropped.jpg)
Shirley Ann Jackson is a physicist and president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest technological research university in the U.S. A frequent speaker and advocate, Dr. Jackson has received numerous awards including the National Medal of Science. A trailblazer throughout her career, she was the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from MIT and the first to lead a top-ranked research university.