Shirley Jackson, 2001 Black Engineer of the Year, Gates receive honorary degrees

The University of Pennsylvania bestowed an honorary degree on Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the 2001 Black Engineer of the Year. Dr. Jackson is the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W.E.B Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and host of recent PBS special, "African American Lives." also received an honorary degree during Penn's 250th Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 15.

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