Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, has been selected to receive the Philip Hauge Abelson Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The award will be presented at the association’s annual meeting in Vancouver this February. The association is honoring President Jackson for “extraordinary leadership of and contributions to the scientific community, government, universities, industries, and future generations of science and engineering professionals.”
A theoretical physicist, Dr. Jackson was chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999. Then, in 1999, she became president of RPI. Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from MIT.
