November 23, 2006
Troy, N.Y. — Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Gwo-Ching Wang, department chair and professor of physics, have been elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Jackson and Wang are two of 449 fellows elected this year in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications, according to AAAS. The announcement will be made in the Nov. 24, 2006 issue of Science.
President Jackson is past president (2004) and immediate past chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors (2005). She was cited for “her exceptional support of national education efforts, for her outstanding contributions to the field of physics, and for her exemplary national leadership.”
“It has been my privilege to serve in leadership positions at the AAAS, and it is an honor to be recognized now as a AAAS Fellow for the work I have so enjoyed in physics, education, government, and science and technology policy,” President Jackson said. “I also am proud of the work we have done together at AAAS to expand the understanding and value of science in our society and around the world.”
Professor Wang — chair of Rensselaer’s physics, applied physics, and astronomy department — has been elected an AAAS fellow in the section of physics and was cited for “distinguished contributions to the fields of surface and overlayer phase transitions and dynamics of thin film growth using electron diffraction.”
“Dr. Jackson and Professor Wang are extraordinary leaders and mentors who share a passion for physics in particular, science in general, and education foremost,” said acting Provost Robert Palazzo. “We are grateful for their contributions to science and their commitment to Rensselaer, and delighted that they are being honored by AAAS.”
Wang and Jackson will be honored Feb. 17, 2007 at the Fellows Forum during the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Ca.
Background on President Jackson
President Jackson has held senior leadership positions in
government, industry, research, and academe. Since her arrival
in 1999, Dr. Jackson has fostered an extraordinary renaissance
at Rensselaer.
In addition, she is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society. She has advisory roles and involvement in other prestigious national organizations and academic institutions including MIT, Georgetown, the Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution, and the Council on Competitiveness. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and is a director of several major corporations.
She was Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from 1995 to 1999. Prior to that, she was a theoretical physicist at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories and a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University. President Jackson holds an S.B. in physics and a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T., and 39 honorary doctoral degrees.
Over the past five years, President Jackson has worked successfully to bring national attention to the underinvestment in basic research and to what she has dubbed the “Quiet Crisis” in America — the threat to the United State’s capacity to innovate due to the looming shortage in the nation’s science and technology workforce. President Jackson has urged a national focus on energy research as a focal point to excite and encourage greater interest in science and engineering careers, noting that “energy security is the space race of this millennium.”
Background on Professor Wang
Professor Wang leads the Ultrathin Film Physics and
Nanostructure Science Lab at Rensselaer, where she conducts
research in nanometer scale characterization of structural,
electrical, mechanical, and magnetic properties of surfaces,
interfaces, ultrathin films, and nano structures. She has
published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and two books in
these areas. Wang currently serves as principal investigator or
co-principal investigator for several federally-funded research
programs at the Institute, which provide opportunities and
assistance for undergraduates and graduate students to pursue
their research interests.
Wang is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a fellow of the American Vacuum Society, as well as a member of the Materials Research Society. She earned a doctorate in materials science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s in physics from Northern Illinois University. Professor Wang joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1984.
About AAAS
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
is the world’s largest general scientific society, and
publisher of the journal, Science
. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262
affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10
million individuals. Science has the largest paid
circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the
world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The
non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to
“advance science and serve society” through initiatives in
science policy, international programs, science education, and
more.
Contact: Theresa Bourgeois
Phone: (518) 276-2840
E-mail: bourgt@rpi.edu