Commencencement

Shirley Ann Jackson to Give Commencement Address

SPEAKER: RPI President Shirley Jackson is one of several honorees at Commencement.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson, who has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe, has been invited as the speaker for Rochester’s Commencement this spring.

Described by Time magazine in 2005 as “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science,” Jackson is a theoretical physicist who has served as past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also is a former chair of the association’s board of directors, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and AAAS.

Jackson, who will receive an honorary doctor of science degree, is one of several honorees during ceremonies this spring. Others include:

Nancy Ares, an assistant professor in the Warner School, the G. Graydon ’58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching for a Nontenured Member of the Faculty.

Robert Bambara, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics, University Award for Graduate Teaching.

Ernest Courant ’43 (PhD), noted high-energy particle physicist, Rochester Distinguished Scholar Award.

Tom Golisano, founder of the payroll services company Paychex and namesake for Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong, an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Michael Gottlieb ’73M (MD), who is credited as the first person to identify AIDS as a syndrome, the Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal.

Ed Hajim ’58, a University trustee, the Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal.

Henry Kyburg, the Burbank Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Graduate Education.

Robert Solow, Nobel laureate in economics, an honorary doctor of laws degree.

John Tarduno, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

For more on the ceremonies, including video, photos, and other information, visit www.rochester.edu/commencement.