Honorary Degree Recipients
Shirley Ann Jackson
Doctor of Science
Shirley Ann Jackson, president emerita of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was a transformative leader of the institute from 1999-2022.
A theoretical physicist and the first African American woman to earn a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jackson has held senior leadership positions in academia, government, industry and research. Time magazine described her as “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science.” In 2014, then-President Barack Obama appointed her co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Earlier, she served on the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.
More recently, Jackson has been a member of the International Security Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of State, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, and the Defense Science Board at the U.S. Department of Defense. She also has served on the boards of directors of major corporations, including FedEx, IBM, Medtronic, U.S. Steel, Marathon Oil, Public Service Enterprise Group and the New York Stock Exchange/ Euronext. She was also a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs during the tenure of former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.
Before taking the helm at Rensselaer, Jackson was chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for four years.
Jackson has earned many honors, including the National Medal of Science, the highest award bestowed by the U.S. president to individuals who advance knowledge in science and engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Award, which the National Science Board gave Jackson in recognition of her “lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy.”
Jim Obergefell
Doctor of Laws
A dedicated advocate for equality and human rights, Jim Obergefell was the lead plaintiff in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
He co-authored “Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality,” a book about the events leading to the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, published by William Morrow in 2016.
Obergefell is also executive producer of the JustMarried Project, which has developed a documentary series, a podcast and a coffee-table book to tell the stories of same-sex couples who serve as agents of social change.
Today, Obergefell writes and speaks on LGBTQ+ and civil rights issues and is the co-founder of Equality Vines, a cause-based premium wine label that makes per-bottle donations to organizations working to further equality for all. Earlier in his professional life, he was a high school German teacher, a corporate trainer, a relationship manager, a software education consultant and a real estate agent.
A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Obergefell lives in Sandusky, Ohio, his birthplace. In his free time, he enjoys photography, travel, choral singing, reading, painting and going to art museums.
Jonathan D. Sarna ’75, GSAS MA’75
Doctor of Humane Letters
University Professor Jonathan D. Sarna ’75, GSAS MA’75, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, is a world-renowned historian and long-serving member of the Brandeis faculty.
During his career, he led a number of programs, departments and centers at the university, including the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. In 2014, he received the Dean of Arts and Sciences Mentoring Award.
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009, Sarna has written or edited more than 30 books on American Jewish history and life, including “American Judaism” (2004), widely considered the definitive history of American Jewry, which earned the Everett Jewish Book of the Year Award from the Jewish Book Council. He is also the author of “When General Grant Expelled the Jews” (2016) and “Coming to Terms With America: Essays on Jewish History, Religion and Culture” (2021).
Sarna serves as the chief historian of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia; co-chairs the Academic Advisory and Editorial Board of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati; and is a past president of the Association for Jewish Studies.
In September, Sarna received the Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award from the American Jewish Historical Society, which praised his “rich contributions to American Jewish scholarship and legacy.” He has received numerous other awards, including the Lincoln Prize in 2016, the American Jewish Committee Akiba Award in 2005 and several honorary doctorates.
Sarna will officially retire from Brandeis at the end of this year, after 46 years in the academy, and 35 years of dedicated and passionate service on the Brandeis faculty.