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Shirley Ann Jackson

Shirley Ann Jackson, American physicist

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Born
August 5, 1946
Age in 2026
80
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1946

About Shirley Ann Jackson

Shirley Ann Jackson, is an African American physicist and the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the first African American woman to earn a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics. She is also the second African American woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in physics. Jackson elected to stay at MIT for her doctoral work and received her Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics in 1973, becoming the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree from MIT. On July 1, 1999, Jackson became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Shirley Ann Jackson timeline

  1. Jackson elected to stay at MIT for her doctoral work and received her Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics in 1973, becoming the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree from MIT.
  2. On July 1, 1999, Jackson became the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

The world when Shirley Ann Jackson was born

Shirley Ann Jackson was born in 1946. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1946

  • #1 song"The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole
  • Top movieThe Best Years of Our Lives
  • Best-selling bookThe King's General – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst NBA (BAA) season begins
  • Top headlineUnited Nations General Assembly holds its first session
  • Technology milestoneENIAC — first general-purpose electronic computer
  • Defining fadBaby boom begins
  • Notable inventionTupperware
  • World population2.43 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population141.4M

1946 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Shirley Ann Jackson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19462026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$6,600$435,000
Average income$4,300$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.35$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population141.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.