Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson Earns Prestigious Oersted Medal from American Association of Physics Teachers

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson Earns Prestigious Oersted Medal from American Association of Physics Teachers.

Next time you glance at your phone, see an unwelcome name, and send that unwanted call to voicemail, know physicist Shirley Ann Jackson is the one who had your back.

The first African American woman to earn a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Jackson is responsible for major advances in telecommunications research that led to the invention of the touch-tone phone, portable fax, fiber optic cables, solar cells, call waiting and yes, Caller ID.

Recently, Dr. Jackson was named the 2021 recipient of the esteemed Hans Christian Oersted Medal presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers.

According to the Journal of Black Educators, the Oersted Medal is named for a Danish physicist who made significant contributions to the field of electromagnetism. The medal is awarded annually to a person who has had outstanding, widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics.

To quote from jbhe.com: