I enjoyed the article on Dr. Jackson. The second sentence in the article, which starts, “Among the candidates, including a college president...,” was of particular interest to me, and I’d like to share a related anecdote.

The college president in question had a great interest in, and had published extensively on, the topic of optimal methodologies for engineering education. In 2013, my wife and I had the opportunity to spend time with him. At that time, Dr. Jackson had been the president of RPI for 14 years.

Surprisingly, the former college president was completely familiar with every one of the many improvements to the Institute that she had spearheaded during her leadership, including the new buildings, the innovative student-life programs, the focus on market- and research-favorable disciplines such as nanotechnology and bioengineering, the improvements in student quality and accepted-student yield, as well as her success in raising funds for the university.

His exact words were, “Shirley Jackson was the perfect person, at the perfect time, for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.”Congratulations on 20 great years!

STEVE LEVY ’74, Rowlett, Texas