Shirley Jackson, ca. 1973

Shirley Anne Jackson '68, PhD '73 was one of five black students who entered in the Class of 1968 and was the first black woman to earn a doctorate at MIT. She went to the National Accelerator Laboratory at Batavia, Ill., for post-doctoral work in elementary particle physics.

For me, an MIT education has proven to be an effective problem-solving background when used in a conscientiously applied program of disciplined work and regular professional activity.

Shirley Jackson, quoted in 'After the Bachelor's Degree,' Massachusetts Institute of Technology: A Place for Womenbrochure, ca. 1973