Shirley Ann Jackson
Theoretical physicist in condensed matter and telecommunications research
At a glance
- Inventor
- Shirley Ann Jackson
- Life
- b. 1946
- Birthplace
- Washington, D.C.
- Country
- United States
- Region
- United States
- Era
- 1950–2000
- Fields
- Science & Engineering, Technology & Computing
- Evidence
- Documented
- Records
- 0 in this archive
What they did
The first Black woman to earn a doctorate from MIT, Jackson conducted theoretical physics research at Bell Laboratories on the behaviour of charge carriers in layered systems, later chairing the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Historical context
Semiconductor device design depends on theoretical understanding of two-dimensional electron systems.
The legacy
Her research career and her regulatory leadership both shaped US science policy. Note: popular lists crediting her with inventing caller ID or the portable fax overstate the record — her documented contribution is theoretical physics at Bell Labs.
The evidence
National Medal of Science citation, 2014
Primary recordShirley Ann Jackson publication and personnel record
Institutional record
Documentation strength
- 2
- Sources
- 1
- Primary
- 2
- Publishers
Calculated from the sources actually attached to this record — the closer a source sits to the original document, the more it counts. It is never asserted by hand.