Institute to Launch Cross-Cultural Collaborations in Science and Engineering Research, Education, and Development in Africa

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson is leading a delegation from the Institute to Africa, from March 14 to March 22, 2009, to expand its collaborations in the region. Delegation members will meet with academic, scientific, business and government leaders in South Africa and Ghana to discuss capacity-building opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

“Through the exchange of people and ideas, across geographic and cultural boundaries, we will work to enhance opportunities to address the key energy, health, and environmental challenges of our time,” President Jackson said in announcing the trip. “To expand Rensselaer’s global reach and impact, we will sign a cooperative exchange agreement with the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and discuss future partnerships with other science and technology focused universities in South Africa and Ghana.” 

Rensselaer is embarking on a five year program of cross-cultural collaboration in science and engineering research, education, and development in Africa. The Institute will bring its hallmark experiential learning programs to these universities through cooperative student projects, student exchanges, and research education initiatives for faculty and administrators. These emerging partnerships also will enhance the Rensselaer “REACH” program, a new initiative that ultimately will require all of its students to have an international experience as a requirement for graduation.

President Jackson secured a gift of $1.25 million from Rensselaer alum Sean O’Sullivan ’85, to provide the initial funding for this new program to assist in building engineering and science capacity through partnerships with key universities in Africa, while promoting cross cultural communication and cooperation. This endeavor is in keeping with the Rensselaer commitment, under the Clinton Global Initiative, to partner with African institutions for these purposes. 

“We are working to expand the scientific and technological workforce capacity that is so urgently needed in each of our countries and around the globe,” President Jackson said.  “At the same time, we are forging these new partnerships to expand and enhance the opportunity for our students to hone their skills while developing the multicultural sophistication and intellectual agility required to lead in this ever-more-interconnected global economy.”

In South Africa, Jackson and the delegation will meet with officials in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, and Pretoria.  President Jackson will speak at the University of Stellenbosch graduation ceremony on March 16, and participate in a partnership signing ceremony on March 17. 

Some members of the Rensselaer delegation also will travel to Kumasi, Ghana, where they will visit Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to discuss future collaborations.

Background on President Jackson
Jackson, the 18th president of Rensselaer, has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe. Described in Time Magazine as “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science,” her research and policy focus includes energy security and the national capacity for innovation, including addressing the “Quiet Crisis” of looming gaps in the science, technology, and engineering workforce and reduced support for basic research. A theoretical physicist, she was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1995-1999). She co-chairs the U.S. Council on Competitiveness Energy Security, Innovation and Sustainability initiative, and was on the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations Climate Change Task Force. She serves on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE Euronext, IBM, FedEx, Medtronic, and Marathon Oil. Calling her a “national treasure,” the U.S. National Science Board selected her as its 2007 Vannevar Bush Award recipient for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education, and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”  In recent years, President Jackson has led Rensselaer delegations to India, China, Malaysia, and Europe. 

Dr. Jackson is the first African-American woman to lead a national research university in the U.S., and the first to serve as the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  She is the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from M.I.T. — in any subject. She also is the first African-American woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and the first to receive the Vannevar Bush award. 

Background on the Rensselaer Delegation
The Rensselaer delegation also includes:

• Provost Robert Palazzo, the chief academic officer, responsible for the overall academic mission of the university.  Previously he oversaw the Institute’s new (2004) Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies;
• V.P. for Information Services and Technology and CIO,  John E. Kolb ’79, responsible for information resources, services, and technology to support education, research, and administrative activities, including the new (2006) Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, one of the world’s most powerful university-based supercomputers.
• V.P. for Student Life, Eddie Ade Knowles, responsible for all aspects of student living on campus including leadership training, housing, health services, athletics, student government, and career services.
  
• Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education at Rensselaer, Prabhat Hajela, responsible for all undergraduate education programs at the Institute, including the international studies programs.
• *Chief of Staff, Laban Coblentz, whose duties include oversight of the Institute’s new (2008) Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), both a performance space and a research facility at the intersection of science, engineering, and the arts.

About Rensselaer
Founded in 1824, Rensselaer is the nation’s oldest technological research university. U.S. News & World Report ranks Rensselaer 41st among the nation’s top universities. The university, which has undergone an extraordinary transformation during the last decade, offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the humanities and social sciences. Institute programs serve undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals around the world. Rensselaer faculty are known for pre-eminence in research conducted in a wide range of fields, with particular emphasis in interdisciplinary research in the areas of  biotechnology, energy and the environment, nanotechnology, computation and information technology, and media and the arts. The Institute is noted for its success transferring technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development.