By Elise Durham

Cloning, euthanasia, pharmaceuticals, medicine, nuclear waste disposal. With all of the medical and technological advances of the 21st century, who is guiding decision makers to responsible and ethical choices for the next generation? That, and many other questions, will be the focus of the Coca-Cola Leadership Lecture Series, featuring Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Jackson, a theoretical physicist, will speak on “Ethical Leadership for the 21st Century: Science, Technology and Public Policy Development.”

“The question that ethical leaders must ponder will be the global nature of science and technology in a tight network of economics and politics that inform behavior, social relations and the larger questions of existence and spirit,” said Dr. Walter Earl Fluker, Coca-Cola Professor of Leadership Studies and director of the Leadership Center at Morehouse.

Before being named president of Rensselaer, Jackson held a number of senior positions in various industries. She was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In industry and research, she was a theoretical physicist at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories. And in academe Jackson was a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University.

In 1995, President William J. Clinton appointed Jackson to serve as chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). She was NRC chairman from 1995-1999. In that post, she was the principal executive officer of and the official spokesman for the NRC and spearheaded the formation of the International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA) in May 1997. That same year Jackson was elected as the group’s first chairman, a position she held from 1997 to 1999. The association is made up of the most senior nuclear regulatory officials from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Jackson is also the immediate past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and currently Chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors. The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society. In 2003, she delivered the William Carey Lecture of the AAAS.

The Coca-Cola Foundation endows the Coca-Cola Leadership Lecture Series at Morehouse. The lecture series provides an opportunity for world-class leaders to share insights about contemporary leadership issues as well as the challenges and opportunities likely to confront tomorrow's leaders.