Physics: The River that Runs Through it All

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the 2019 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award honoree, will discuss her career at the nexus of science and society, including her early career in theoretical elementary particle and condensed matter physics and research successes at Fermilab, CERN, and Bell Labs; she also will discuss her growing contributions to science-inflected public policy, which led to the chairmanship of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Clinton administration; and her decision to take on the presidency of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – a leading technological research university, while continuing to serve in an advisory capacity in both government and business at the highest levels, including as Co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, under President Barack Obama, and on the Board of Directors of major corporations, including IBM and FedEx. She will consider the most pressing issues in science and society today, and ways that physicists are uniquely prepared to contribute to the betterment of our world.