14 Lesser-Known Black Americans Who Changed Our Country For the Better

Shirley Jackson obtained her PhD in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973, the first African-American woman to graduate from MIT. After continuing her research on elementary and subatomic particles, she worked at Bell Laboratories, where her research enabled breakthroughs in the development of the portable fax, solar cells, fiber optic cables, and caller ID, and call waiting. Dr. Jackson went on to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1995 and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1999. In both cases, she was both the first woman and the first African American to hold these positions.