Dr. Aprille Joy Ericsson Jackson Archives

Dr. Aprille Joy Ericsson-Jackson was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 1, 1963, to Corrinne Elaine Breedy and Henry Anthon Ericsson. She excelled in her early academics and extracurricular activities, which gave her the opportunity at the age of 15 to attend the Cambridge School of Weston on a full scholarship. Her academic and extracurricular (including Girl Scouts, marching band, and basketball) success continued and she was accepted into the UNITE, now MITE, Minority Introduction to Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Science program. Afterward, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s of Science in Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was involved in important research projects. After encouragement from a friend and Howard alum, she earned both her Masters of Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace from Howard University in Washington D.C., making herself the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Howard. During her graduate studies, Ericsson-Jackson interned with the Goddard Space Flight Center and was offered a full-time job as an Aerospace Engineer. She also became the first female African-American to receive a Ph.D. in Engineering at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Throughout her journey, Dr. Ericsson-Jackson has won a number of awards and recognition, one of which was the 2016 Prestigious Washington Award in recognition of her accomplishments as an engineer that have promoted the happiness, comfort, and well-being of humanity. In addition to her work, Ericsson has taught Mechanical Engineering and mathematics at Howard and Bowie State Universities and Aerospace theory at HU Public Charter Middle School of Math & Science. She also serves as a motivational speaker and on NASA’s speaker’s bureau. She supports strong STEM education in schools with a specific emphasis on women and minorities in related fields even going as far as to create an email pipeline to announce federal grants and jobs to under-represented groups in technology. Dr. Ericsson-Jackson has made a number of noteworthy contributions in the field of Aerospace Engineering, serving as project manager or engineer for a number of science instruments.

She currently serves as the New Business Lead Instrument Systems and Technology Division for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which is a federal program that enables small business to support NASA- and collaborate with universities in competition for opportunities to provide technology that solves problems. She hopes to continue her work and become a full-time professor, develop a university satellite research center, create and chair an Aerospace department at Howard, become a mission specialist for the astronaut program, and become an advisor or liaison to the White House for Science, Technology, and Education policies. With her continued success in pursuing Aerospace Engineering after being placed on medical review when applying for NASA’s astronaut program, Dr. Ericsson-Jackson in not only a pioneering role model in Engineering but also a Black STEAMer, still on the rise.

If you or someone you know is eligible, apply for the NASA Virginia Space Grant Consortium 2018-19 STEM Bridge Scholarship Program! http://vsgc.odu.edu/sf/Bridge/

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