After receiving her honorary doctorate, Apple executive and former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson told the audience she felt “right at home” among the graduates of CSUN’s College of Engineering and Computer Science at their commencement ceremony May 16.
“I chose math and science and engineering way back when I was in high school,” Jackson said. “So, I’m standing here with what I consider to be my people. The ones who get excited about process flow diagrams, about balancing equations … my fellow nerds.”
The university honored Jackson for her work to expand education access, as well as her groundbreaking environmental leadership that has spanned decades. CSUN President Erika D. Beck presented Jackson with a red-and-white hood, while Robert Taylor ’82 (Engineering), Hon. D. ’24, chair of the CSUN Foundation, read the proclamation during the degree conferral.
“In recognition of her deep commitment to public service and to advancing climate solutions, racial justice, equality and educational opportunity, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and of the California State University, Northridge are proud to confer upon Lisa Jackson, the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Dr. Jackson, congratulations!” Taylor said, while the graduating class cheered.
Jackson heads Apple’s environmental efforts, global social initiatives, and public policy engagements, and she marshaled the company’s $25 million investment in CSUN’s Global Hispanic Serving Institution Equity Innovation Hub, with the goal to increase accessibility for students to education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
“We’re so proud of our partnership on the HSI Equity Innovation Hub, which is expanding opportunities to help students like you shape the future,” she told graduates.
Long before her career with Apple, Jackson was breaking barriers. She earned her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Tulane University and a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Princeton University. She began working for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1987, and then moved on to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2002, where she was appointed commissioner in 2006. In 2009, President Barack Obama named Jackson EPA Administrator — the first African American woman to hold that position.
In her acceptance speech, Jackson urged graduates to ask themselves, “What is your why?” and establish a grounding sense of purpose. She spoke about the passion that drove her to pursue science in her education and her career, after growing up in New Orleans.
“I had an incredible community of family and neighbors and friends,” Jackson said. “But growing up, there was something else I noticed about the community. I noted that too many people were sick.”
Jackson grew up along an industrialized stretch of the Mississippi River, where pollution in the air and water earned the area the name “Cancer Alley,” she said.
“I saw inequity and injustice in my backyard, and I just knew I had to do something about it,” Jackson said.
Looking at the problems in one’s home community is a good place to start when searching for a purpose, she noted.
“Whatever comes next, whether you’re writing code, you’re building bridges, you’re discovering medicines — you’re teaching the next generation,” she said. “Remember where you come from, remember the community that grounds you, remember that your purpose is also your power.”
