Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is an MIT alumna and the first African-American woman to head a ranking technological university in the United States. Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995-99, she received the SB (1968) and PhD (1973) in physics from MIT. She was the first African-American woman to head the NRC and the first African-American woman to earn doctorate at MIT and a doctorate in physics in the United States.

While an undergraduate at MIT, she was a co-founder of the Black Students Union and helped increase the number of African-Americans entering the Institute from two to 57 in a single year.

Prior to joining the NRC, Professor Jackson was a university professor, research scientist, consultant and corporate director. 

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