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Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, delivered the principal address and received an
honorary degree at the College’s 158th Commencement
ceremony on May 28. Holy Cross graduated 676 men and women
during the ceremony, held at Fitton Field.
A theoretical physicist, Jackson received her Ph.D. in theoretical
elementary particle physics from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 1973. Prior to becoming Rensselaer’s
president, Jackson held senior positions in government, as
chairperson of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; in
industry, as a theoretical physicist at the former AT&T
Bell Laboratories; and, in higher education, as a professor
of theoretical physics at Rutgers University. Jackson is
president of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific
society and publisher of Science magazine. The first African
American woman to receive a Ph.D. from M.I.T. in any subject
area, she is also the first African American woman to lead
a national research university.
Honorary degrees were also given to Rev. Michael J. Gillgannon,
founder and director of campus ministry for the La Paz,
Bolivia Archdiocese; Alice McDermott, National Book Award
winner
and author of five acclaimed novels; and Richard P. Traina,
former president of Clark University.
Holy Cross Magazine will carry full coverage of Commencement
in the summer issue.
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