The Blog of Awesome Women / Shirley Jackson: Black Brainiac

Shirley Jackson is a highly-regarded physicist and the first black woman to earn a PhD from MIT. Her doctoral research project was in theoretical particles. Shirley has gone on to not only receive numerous awards and the highest praise for her work in elementary particles, but also for her advocacy of women and minorities in the science field. In 1995, Vice President Al Gore celebrated her contributions and her drive to be the best at her swearing in as chairman of America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gore told the audience that a four-year-old Shirley Ann Jackson informed her mother that one day she was going to be called “Shirley the Great.” Shirley made good on her promise as she pushed down barriers of segregation and bigotry to become one of the top scientists in the nation.