Shirley Ann Jackson PhD '73 was an MIT undergraduate preparing for graduate school when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. In this video, which is excerpted from the Infinite History project, Jackson remembers how King's life influenced her decision to stay at MIT and work for racial equality at the Institute. Jackson became the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT and later became Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Today she is the President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

To view Jackson's video in its entirety, visit MIT150 Infinite History.