Shirley Ann Jackson, FREng (born August 5, 1946) is an American physicist, and was the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

She is the first African American woman to have earned a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics.

[3] She conducted breakthrough basic scientific research that enabled others to invent the portable fax, touch tone telephone, solar cells, fiber optic cables, and the technology behind caller ID and call waiting.

She was featured on the PBS show "Finding Your Roots" Season 6 Episode 7, where she is noted as one of the leading global pioneers in science all while knowing little about her ancestry.

[3] Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1976, examining the fundamental properties of various materials.

[5] Jackson served on the faculty at Rutgers University in Piscataway and New Brunswick, New Jersey from 1991 to 1995, in addition to continuing to consult with Bell Labs on semiconductor theory.

[14] Moreover, these telecommunications advancements significantly predated her arrival at Bell Labs in 1976, with these six specifically enumerated inventions actually occurring by others in the time frame between 1954 and 1970.

[15] In 1995 she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), becoming the first woman and first African American to hold that position.

She oversaw a large capital improvement campaign, including the construction of an Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center costing $200 million,[19] and the East Campus Athletic Village.

[25][26] Following the weekend, the board of trustees announced they would support construction of a new guest house on Jackson's property, for the purpose of "[enabling] the presidents to receive and entertain, appropriately, Rensselaer constituents, donors, and other high-level visitors.

"[31] In June 2010, it was announced that the Rensselaer Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend Jackson a ten-year contract renewal, which she accepted.

[33] A 2015 Money.com article cited Jackson as the highest-paid college President and "took home a base salary of $945,000 plus another $276,474 in bonuses, $31,874 in nontaxable benefits".

Board Chair Tom Tierney says, "To successfully take on the most pressing environmental challenges facing us, TNC needs people with ambition and big ideas.

[17] She was inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame in 1998 for "her significant contributions as a distinguished scientist and advocate for education, science, and public policy.

[51] Also in 2021, she received, from the UC Berkeley Academic Senate, the Clark Kerr Award for distinguished leadership in higher education.