RPI president to be honored at Harvard
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson will be recognized as a recipient of the W.E.B. Dubois Medal by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.
Jackson will be one of eight recipients of the award, which honors people who have made significant contributions to African and African American history and culture, according to RPI.
Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick will also receive the award, as well as comedian Dave Chappelle. Kehinde Wiley, an artist made famous by his stylized portraits of black and brown men and women from around the world, will also be a recipient of the medal, RPI said.
The award ceremony will take place Thursday at the Sanders Theatre on Harvard’s campus.
Others who will be honored with the medal include financial executives Pamela J. Joyner and Kenneth I. Chenault, author Florence C. Ladd and Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala.
Jackson, a recipientofthe National Media of Science in 2016, was appointed by President Barack Obama as co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in 2014, and also served on the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board from 2011 to 2017.
Before becoming president of RPI, Jackson served as chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999. Jackson holds degrees in physics and theoretical elementary particle physics, both from Massachusetts Institute Technology.