She has received several NASA Space Flight Medals in addition to numerous other awards. Jackson's talk will be followed by a response from panelists, including Susan Voss, an assistant professor with the Picker Program, and Rose Mary Farenden, global recruitment director at Ford Motor Company, who will discuss possible approaches to engineering education. Stephen Director, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan and chair of the Engineering Deans Council, will introduce Jackson's lecture and serve as moderator for the response. Friday's sessions will take place in Wright Hall Auditorium. Saturday's sessions will take place in Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall.
All sessions are free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible.
Established in February 1999, Smith College's Picker Program in Engineering and Technology is the first and only engineering program at a women's college. The program's unprecedented linkage of engineering education and the liberal arts is designed to attract women not only strong in scientific and technical aptitude but also capable of exceptional creativity and humanistic understanding. The first class of engineering students entered Smith this fall and is expected to graduate in 2004. They will earn bachelor's degrees in engineering science, enabling them to pursue specialization in a range of technical fields. Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's best liberal arts colleges.