Monumental Moment

Michael Artin and Shirley Jackson

win nation’s highest honor in science and technology...

Michael Artin and Shirley Ann Jackson

Photos: Donna Coveney (Artin) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Jackson)

Excerpt as reported by the MIT News Office

MIT Professor Emeritus Michael Artin and MIT Corporation Life Member Shirley Ann Jackson ’68 PhD ’73 are among 17 world-class researchers in the country who have been awarded the nation’s highest honors for scientists and innovators, the White House announced December 22, 2015.

President Barack Obama will present the National Medal of Science to Artin, professor emeritus in the Department of Mathematics, and Jackson, the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at a ceremony early next year. With these awards, Artin and Jackson bring to 58 the number of MIT scientists who have won the National Medal of Science.

This year, the White House has awarded the National Medal of Science to nine recipients and named eight awardees of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

“Science and technology are fundamental to solving some of our nation’s biggest challenges,” Obama said in an announcement yesterday. “The knowledge produced by these Americans today will carry our country’s legacy of innovation forward and continue to help countless others around the world. Their work is a testament to American ingenuity.”