Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President and Physicist Shirley Ann Jackson to Address Holy Cross Graduates

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will deliver the principal address and receive an honorary degree at the 158th Commencement ceremony at the College of the Holy Cross on Friday, May 28. Holy Cross will graduate 676 men and women during the ceremony, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Fitton Field. In case of rain, the commencement exercises will be held in the Hart Recreation Center.

A theoretical physicist, Jackson received her doctoral degree in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T. in 1973. Her research specialty is in theoretical condensed matter physics, especially layered systems, and the physics of opto-electronic materials. 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. Named as one of seven 2004 fellows of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), she is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society (1986), she received the “Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award” from the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2001. She is also a recipient of the “Thomas Alva Edison Award.” Named one of the Top 50 Women in Science by Discover magazine in 2002, Jackson was recognized in a published book by ESSENCE, titled 50 of The Most Inspiring African-Americans. She also was named one of “50 R&D Stars to Watch” by Industry Week Magazine.

Jackson is the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. from M.I.T. in any subject area and one of the first two African-American women to receive a doctorate in physics in the United States. She is also the first African-American woman to lead a national research university. Jackson is married to Morris A. Washington, also a physicist. They have one son, Alan.

The following individuals will also receive honorary degrees:

Rev. Michael J. Gillgannon

Rev. Michael J. Gillgannon is the founder and director of campus ministry for the La Paz, Bolivia Archdiocese. He also serves as chaplain to the State University of La Paz and the La Paz Teachers’ College. Ordained in 1958, Fr. Gillgannon began his career in campus ministry in 1962 at Western Missouri State University. In 1966, he served on the advisory committee of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference for the post-Vatican II reorganization of Catholic Campus Ministry in the United States. Since 1974, he has worked as a missionary in La Paz, serving as pastor of San Antonio Parish, as episcopal vicar of the Eastern Deanery of La Paz, and as national chaplain for Bolivian Campus Ministry.

Alice McDermott The author of five acclaimed novels, Alice McDermott has won critical praise and a devoted readership with her deft perceptions of love, loss, family and faith. Her debut novel, A Bigamist's Daughter (1982), announced the arrival of an exciting new talent and her follow-up book, That Night (1987), was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. At Weddings and Wakes (1992), her third novel and New York Times bestseller, was called “a haunting and masterly work of literary art” by The Wall Street Journal. Charming Billy (1998) won the National Book Award. Her most recent novel, Child of My Heart, was published in 2002. McDermott received her bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oswego, and her master of arts degree in writing from the University of New Hampshire. She and her husband, research neuroscientist David M. Armstrong, have three children, Will, Patrick and Eames.

Richard P. Traina From 1984 to 2000, Richard P. Traina served as the seventh president of Clark University. During his tenure, he oversaw the endowment of three new schools —the Hiatt School of Psychology, the Higgins School of Humanities, and the Carlson School of Chemistry —and the number of endowed chairs for faculty rose from two to provision for 15. It was under Traina’s leadership that Clark helped establish the Main South Community Development Corporation, a vehicle organized to stimulate affordable housing and small business development in Clark’s surrounding neighborhood. A specialist in American diplomatic history, he first served on the faculty of Wabash College (1963-74), spending his last five years there as dean of the college. Subsequently, he served as the chief academic officer at Franklin and Marshall College. The author of American Diplomacy and the Spanish Civil War, he was the co-editor, with Armin Rappaport, of Present in the Past. A frequent lecturer on higher education, he has served as a member of the Council on Competitiveness, as chair of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts (AICUM), as a commissioner for the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, and as chair of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.