Chapter 15 Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson 2001 Black Engineer of the Year THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE 2001 BLACK ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARDS CEREMONY SPEECHES HONORING DR. SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON. THE THEME OF THE CONFERENCE THAT YEAR WAS “HERITAGE BY CHANCE, SUCCESS BY CHOICE.” Mr. Robert Stevens, president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin: Isn’t it curious that the chance of a lifetime can be totally obliterated by the choice of a single moment? Conversely, one momentous choice can turn the most insignificant event into the chance of a lifetime. Choice giveth and choice taketh away. In the past 15 years, this conference and celebration have done much to strengthen the choices youngsters make regarding their futures. The reign of the Black Engineer of the Year illuminates the message to the young that where others have gone, there may you go also. This is the first Black Engineer celebration of the new millennium, and so our charge to the Black Engineer of the Year is simple yet profound: may your brilliant light shine so bright that it penetrates all the dark corners of the world, where ignorance and apathy abound, and lead all our children home to the fountain of knowledge. Dr. Jackson, Lockheed Martin is proud to team up once again with the engineering deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in sponsoring this conference and to welcome you into the fold and to wish you well. Nicholas Donofrio, senior vice president for Manufacturing and Technology at IBM: By education, training, and profession, Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a theoretical physicist. Rodney Adkins, general manager of IBM’s WEB Server Group: By experience, position, and calling, Dr. Jackson is a genuine leader. Mr. Donofrio: As a physicist, she sits on the board of trustees of her alma mater, MIT, from which she holds the distinction of being the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in any discipline.
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