Aprille Ericsson Jackson

Aprille Ericsson-Jackson (born April 1, 1963) is an American aerospace engineer.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Ericsson-Jackson received her Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Masters of Engineering and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace from Howard University. She was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and the first female African-American to receive a Ph.D. in engineering at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Ericsson has won many awards, including the 1997 "Women in Science and Engineering" award for the best female engineer in the federal government, and she is currently the instrument manager for a proposed mission to bring dust from the Martian lower atmosphere back to Earth.