Jenny E Greene
Princeton University |
Princeton,
NJ |
2023
This award shines a light on all the brilliant scholars currently incarcerated in this country, and the hope that a college education can bring to them and their families. I am so grateful for the bravery and vision of every incarcerated student that embarks on their own college journey.
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Jenny Greene has been a professor of astrophysics at Princeton University since 2011. She has supervised 12 theses and more than 30 undergraduate research projects. Jenny, head of her department's Climate Committee, is also a mentor for graduate students and postdoctoral students from underrepresented groups at Princeton.
Jenny is the Faculty Director of the Prison Teaching Initiative (PTI). PTI is a volunteer-based organization that provides college-accredited courses to incarcerated adult men and women in New Jersey. PTI students are >80% Black and Latinx. Jenny teaches college algebra and astronomy in New Jersey correctional facilities, mentors incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students, and has recruited and mentored dozens of graduate student instructors for PTI.
Jenny’s mentorship helps PTI scholars build STEM identities and pursue STEM careers that were delayed during their incarceration. Since 2017, PTI has hosted summer research experiences for formerly incarcerated students on the Princeton campus, including in Jenny's lab, where students get intensive guidance on becoming scientists.
Jenny highlights the power of college-in-prison programs through her professional networks at Princeton and nationally. She shares her conviction that education is a human right and the absolute joy that comes from mentoring passionate adult learners in the prison context. She works to elevate the voices of the brilliant formerly incarcerated scholars across the country.
Jenny earned a B.S. in astronomy and physics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Harvard University. She was the recipient of the Aaronson Lectureship from the University of Arizona and the Annie Jump Cannon Award from the American Astronomical Society.