Jamie Jackson '16 was named the head coach of the golf team in the summer of 2017. One of the most accomplished golfers in school history upon graduating, he served as the assistant coach under Miles Nolan, his former coach, in 2016-17. Nolan retired after 14 seasons at the helm.
A truncated 2021 campaign allowed for two regular season matches, which Rensselaer won both before capturing the Liberty League Championship - for the first time in school history - by 14 strokes. A trip to the NCAA Championship, also a first for the program, followed and the Engineers made the cut, eventually finishing 17th in the nation despite having a limited roster because of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions.
Jackson was named the conference Coach of the Year and four student-athletes garnered All-League First Team, led by senior Ryan Quinn, who captured Player of the Year.
The 2019-20 season, which was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, saw the Engineers nationally-ranked around the top 15 throughout the season. They finished at No. 16 in the final Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Poll.
Among the successes of 2019-20 were fourth place finishes at both The O'Briant-Jensen Memorial in Greensboro, North Carolina (22 teams) and the BSN Dataw Island Invitational in South Carolina (13 teams). Individual's highlights included a final round -6, 66 - believed to be a school record - by junior Austin Rupp at Dataw and Quinn being named an All-American.
The 2018-19 campaign featured a fourth place finish at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial, which included 13 schools - 12 of which were Division I. The Engineers were second at the Liberty League Fall Preview and fourth of 17 at the adidas Intercollegiate in South Carolina. Individually, four student-athletes earned All-Liberty League, including Joey Harrigan, who was also the Rookie of the Year. In addition, Rupp and Quinn were both GCAA All-Region honorees for the second straight year.
In his first season, Jackson led the Engineers to top 3 finishes in eight of the 10 events they played. They won the five-team Centre College Spring Invitational and were second in six events, including the season-ending Liberty League Championship. In addition to being All-Region, Quinn garnered All-Freshmen recognition.
A captain as a senior in 2015-16, Jackson was All-Liberty League and All-Region after he averaged a team-best 76.7 strokes over 18 rounds. He had four top 10 finishes, including third overall at the NYU Spring Invitational, fifth at the ECAC Championship in the fall and eighth in the four-round Liberty League Championship. The Liberty League Performer of the Week once, his best rounds included a 70 at The Ranch on the second day of the ECAC Tournament, three 73s and three 74s.
During his junior year, Jackson competed in 10 tournaments and won four times on his way to earning four Liberty League Performer of the Week awards, ECAC Golfer of the Month once, All-Region and National All-America Honorable Mention.
In his first two seasons he had three top 10 finishes, including a runner-up, and was selected All-Liberty League Second Team in 2012-13.
Jackson, the only golfer in Rensselaer history to earn CoSIDA National Academic All-America accolades, was a biomedical engineering major with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average. While an undergraduate, he conducted extensive research, including in the Musculoskeletal Mechanics Laboratory at Rensselaer, where he developed a robust pressure chamber. The apparatus is currently being used to characterize passive, wireless pressure sensors being developed for monitoring intracompartmental and intracranial pressure. He also worked in the Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration Laboratory at Rutgers University, where he conducted a cell culture study.
Jackson, who had multiple abstracts accepted for poster sessions at research conferences, interned on the medical devices team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and has been employed there since graduating.
Among the academic honors he earned throughout his tenure at RPI were two-time CoSIDA National Academic All-America, Liberty League All-Academic three times, Dean's List eight times and CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team twice. He was awarded the prestigious Leopold L. Balleisen Prize, which was established by the Class of 1918 and honors a senior student-athlete who has won a varsity letter in at least one sport during two undergraduate years and who stands highest academically among those thus qualified, a Founders Award of Excellence and the Rensselaer Leadership Award.
The Belfast, Maine, native was also selected as the department's 2016 Richard S. Lyons Male Career Athlete and he was voted the Liberty League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an award presented to graduating student-athletes – one female and one male – who have demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics and service/leadership throughout their time as student-athletes.
Jackson and his wife Anna reside in Cohoes, N.Y.
"As an alum, Jamie brings an understanding of the scholar-athlete model that has defined RPI Athletics. He excelled in academics, athletics and leadership throughout his career and we fully expect Jamie will continue to provide vision and energy to enhance our student-athletes' experiences." - Dr. Lee McElroy, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics (July 2017)
Updated May 2021
