Dr. Shirley Jackson the inventor of modern phone technology

I never really gave much thought to certain aspects of modern technology related to telecommunication. When we went from rotary dial to touch tone phones I just assumed that technological advances took place all the time and never considered the individual people who were involved. I had no idea that an African American female was responsible for our being able to push buttons rather than stick our fingers in the old rotary dial telephones. In the back of my mind I had assumed that such inventors were male like George Washington Carver, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Edison. I now know that I was wrong.

I would not have had a reason to associate a female with telecommunications devices as in school during the 1960s and 70s we were only taught about male scientists and what they brought to the world. I did not have the knowledge, until now, that the woman, responsible for touch tone telephones is Dr. Shirley Jackson, an African American physicist who also invented the caller ID, the portable fax, fiber optic cable and call waiting.

It simply never occurred to me that a female, especially a black woman would even be interested in this field but I stand corrected. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson received a PH. D. in 1973 from the Massechusetts Institute of Technology and is the first African-American woman to have earned a doctorate from MIT. She is the second black female in the United States to earn her doctorate in physics. Her road was not easy and she actually risked her life in order to obtain an education.

In interviews Dr. Jackson has been candid about the sexism and racism she endured while in Boston. During the Civil Rights era, she was shot ant and spit on by whites who did not want her in Massachusetts or at MIT. She endured these atrocities as well as dealing with segregation because she wanted to pave the way for other African Americans. Surely she feared for her life but she stayed in the race and now is receiving her reward.

Ironically, those who opposed the scientist simply because of the color of her skin are now benefiting from her hard work and tenacity. You can read the full story by clicking on the link. It must have been difficult to keep her mind on her studies in such a hostal environment where she feared for her life and dealt with attacks because she was a female who was black. Shirley and Jackson, however, persevered.and showed her haters that she has risen high above them.

Dr. Jackson’s experiments with theoretical physics are what opened the door for numerous developments in telecommunications. She is also the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which is located in Troy, New York. Shirley Washington is married to Morris A. Washington, a physics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,. Jackson has one son, Alan, who is a Dartmouth College alumnus. Dr. Jackson was in Washington, D.C. on May 5 1946 and her parent, George and Beatrice Jackson, emphasized the value of education.

Her father encouraged her interest in science by assisting her with science class projects. She attended Roosevelt Senior High School, where she was in accelerated programs for both math and science. In 1964 she graduated as valedictorian. This is impressive for a black woman and a huge milestone for all women. Certainly we know that gone are the days when women were basically housewives and black women could be no more than maids and nanny’s. Even so, Dr. Jackson’s accomplishments are vast and the world should know what she has given us.

Touch tone phones, caller ID, portable, fax machines, and call waiting have all made our lives much easier when it comes to communicating . Fiber optic cable plays an important role as well because it uses light pulses instead and of electric pulses which leads to smoother telecommunications. I can only imagine the reactions of the male scientists when this brilliant black female came up with these modern day inventions that have impacted the globe.

It’s difficult to think back on the days of rotary dial phones with dial tones, and busy signals. There was no way to know who was on the other end of a call when your phone rang and no way to tell when someone else was trying to call you. There was other method of communication except by snail mail. It’s easy to take these telecommunications devices for granted without considering that someone spent a lot of time and money to obtain an education in order to better the world.

In 1976, Dr. Shirley Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories. In 1978, she became part of the Scattering and Low Energy Physics Research Department, and she moved to the Solid State and Quantum Physics Research Department in 1988. Over the decades, Dr. Jackson has been recognized with numerous awards for her achievements in science and education.

In 1995 President Bill Clinton appointed her to serve as Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and this certainly was an honor. Dr. Jackson also had the distinction of becoming the first female as well as the first African American to hold that position. How proud she must have felt in knowing that she dodged bullets, wiped spit from her body, endured racist and sexist actins and came out on the other side.

When asked about her ambitions this is what the scientist had to say: “I am interested in the electronic, optical, magnetic, and transport properties of novel semiconductor systems. Of special interest are the behavior of magnetic polarons in semimagnetic and dilute magnetic semiconductors, and the optical response properties of semiconductor quantum-wells and superlattices. My interests also include quantum dots, mesoscopic systems, and the role of antiferromagnetic fluctuations in correlated 2D electron systems.”

This is not the language of the average American and it may sound foreign to our ears. What matters, however, is that we can fully understand and enjoy the products that Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson has created that benefit the entire world. She is an African American female scientists whose inventions make technology easier for everyone to utilize. This is why I salute her as a top black female technological expert. Dr. Jackson has also is receiving honor for her accomplishments while she is still living which is better than being saluted after you have passed on.