Jackson wins Vannevar Bush Award

Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has been selected by NSF's National Science Board (NSB) to receive the Vannevar Bush Award. Jackson is being honored for her lifetime achievements in scientific research, education, and public policy. Her advocacy of global energy security, implementation of innovations as chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and transformation of RPI are also being recognized. "Jackson has been a leader on many fronts, and she has incorporated scientific approaches into all of her work, especially on policy issues of international importance and in reforming one of the nation's important educational institutions," NSB Chairman Steven C. Beering said in a press release. Jackson earned a Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1973-marking the first doctorate awarded to an African American woman in any field by MIT.