{{Short description|American scholar and academic administrator (born 1945)}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ruth Simmons | image = DrRuthJSimmons.jpg | caption = Simmons in 2001 | office = 8th President of Prairie View A&M University | term_start = July 1, 2017 | term_end = February 28, 2023 | predecessor = George Wright | successor = Tomikia P. LeGrande | office1 = 18th President of Brown University | term_start1 = October 14, 2001 | term_end1 = June 30, 2012 | predecessor1 = Gordon Gee | successor1 = Christina Paxson | office2 = 9th President of Smith College | term_start2 = 1995 | term_end2 = 2001 | predecessor2 = Mary Maples Dunn | successor2 = Carol T. Christ | birth_name = Ruth Jean Stubblefield | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|7|3}} | birth_place = Grapeland, Texas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Norbert Alonzo | children = 2 | education = Dillard University (BA)<br />Harvard University (MA, PhD) | module = {{Infobox academic | child=yes | alma_mater = | thesis_title = The poetic language of Aime Cesaire | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302720917/ | thesis_year = 1973 | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = <!--must be referenced from a third party source--> | era = | discipline = Romance literature | sub_discipline = | workplaces = {{plainlist| * University of New Orleans * California State University, Northridge * University of Southern California * Princeton University * Spelman College * Smith College * Brown University * Prairie View A&M University }} | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source--> }} }} '''Ruth Simmons''' (born '''Ruth Jean Stubblefield''',<ref>Beckham, Barry, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CEMEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22RUTH+JEAN+STUBBLEFIELD%22&pg=PA24 "Dr Ruth J. Simmons - Precedent-setting president"] ''The Crisis'', March–April 2001, p. 24.</ref> July 3, 1945) is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university (HBCU), from 2017 until 2023.<ref name="diverseeducation.com">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-12 |title=Dr. Ruth J. Simmons to Step Down as President of Prairie View A&M |url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/faculty-staff/article/15289597/dr-ruth-j-simmons-to-step-down-as-president-of-prairie-view-am |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=Diverse: Issues In Higher Education |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McGee |first=Kate |date=2023-02-10 |title=Ruth Simmons will resign early as president of Prairie View A&M University |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/10/ruth-simmons-prairie-view-am/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}}</ref><ref name="McGee">{{Cite web |last=McGee |first=Kate |date=2022-03-30 |title=Outgoing Prairie View A&M President Ruth Simmons will remain at university, create new leadership diversity program |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/30/prairie-view-A-M-ruth-simmons/ |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}}</ref> From 2001 to 2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University, where she was the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution. During her time at Brown, Simmons was named the best college president by ''Time'' magazine. Prior to Brown University, she headed Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters and the largest women's college in the United States, beginning in 1995. During her tenure, Smith College launched the first accredited engineering program at an all-women's college.
Simmons is a professor of literature specializing in the Romance languages. As of 2017, Simmons is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society (1997), an honorary fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and a ''Chevalier'' of the French Legion of Honor.
In February 2023, Simmons announced her plans to advise Harvard University on fostering relationships with historically black universities (HBCUs).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Milkowski |first=Gray |date=2023-02-27 |title=Ruth Simmons named to senior post advising on HBCU partnerships |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/02/ruth-simmons-named-to-senior-post-advising-on-hbcu-partnerships/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324174822/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/02/ruth-simmons-named-to-senior-post-advising-on-hbcu-partnerships/ |archive-date=2023-03-24 |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> As of April 2023, Simmons serves as a President's Distinguished Fellow at Rice University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruth Simmons to join Rice as President's Distinguished Fellow |url=https://news.rice.edu/news/2023/ruth-simmons-join-rice-presidents-distinguished-fellow |access-date=2023-04-03 |date=February 14, 2023 |website=Rice News {{!}} News and Media Relations {{!}} Rice University |last=Bell |first=Andrew |language=en |quote=She plans to begin in the role April 1.}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Simmons was born in Grapeland, Texas. She is the last of 12 children of Fanny (''née'' Campbell) and Isaac Stubblefield.<ref>Stated on ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'', PBS, April 29, 2012</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8znpfEq3JbcC&q=Ruth+Stubblefield+SIMMONS Biography Today: Profiles of People of Interest to Young Readers – Google Books<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Her father was a sharecropper<ref name="bloomberg revives-a-black-college" /> up until the family moved to Houston during her school years. Her paternal grandfather descends partly from the Benza and Kota people, enslaved people from Gabon,<ref>{{cite news|first=Sarah |last=Rodman|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/04/28/brown-president-traces-roots-brown-chief-unearths-her-roots/pXlmOlk0el5FZ4GMqiM5kK/story.html |title=Brown president Ruth Simmons traces 'Roots'|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=April 29, 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2012_04_01_archive.html Your genetic]</ref> while her maternal line is traced back to the indigenous peoples of America.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2012/04/finding-your-roots-with-henry-louis_30.html|title = "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." - DNA in the Seventh Episode}}</ref>
While in school, one of her teachers, Vernell Lillie, talked to her about attending college, something she had never considered before as a first-generation college student.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Lowe |first=Shelley |title=The Value of Difference: A conversation with Ruth J. Simmons, the 2023 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities|url=https://www.neh.gov/article/value-difference|magazine=Humanities|date= Fall 2023|volume=44|number=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karol |first=Kimberly Bernard |date=July 17, 2020 |title=“Like Me”: PVAMU President Ruth J. Simmons gives so students can embrace the future |url=https://www.pvamu.edu/blog/like-me-pvamu-president-ruth-j-simmons-gives-so-students-can-embrace-the-future/ |url-status= |access-date=April 24, 2026 |website=Prairie View A&M University}}</ref> She earned her bachelor's degree, on scholarship, from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1967. She earned her master's and a doctorate in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively.<ref name="thesis-simmons-1973">{{cite thesis |title=The Poetic Language Of Aime Cesaire. |date=1973 |institution=Harvard University |degree=Ph.D. |last=Simmons |first=Ruth Jean |id={{ProQuest|302720917}} |oclc=32414601}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Early academic positions === Simmons was an assistant professor of French at the University of New Orleans (UNO) from 1973 to 1976 and assistant dean of UNO's College of Liberal Arts from 1975 to 1976. She moved to California State University, Northridge in 1977 as administrative coordinator of its NEH Liberal Studies Project. From 1978 to 1979, she was acting director of California State University, Northridge's International Programs and visiting associate professor of Pan-African Studies.<ref name="21, 2017">[https://www.pvamu.edu/president/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/dr-ruth-simmons-cv.pdf|accessed=December 21, 2017]</ref>
Simmons moved to the University of Southern California in 1979 as assistant dean of graduate studies and later as associate dean of graduate studies.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121015070436/http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/7294.html USC Perspectives 10/08/01.]</ref> In 1983, she moved to Princeton University and served as assistant dean of faculty, and later as associate dean of faculty from 1986 to 1990. Simmons served as provost at Spelman College from 1990 to 1991 and returned to Princeton, where she served as vice provost from 1992 to 1995.<ref name="21, 2017"/>
=== Smith College presidency === In 1995, Simmons was selected as president of Smith College, which she led until 2001. As president of Smith College, Simmons started the first engineering program at a U.S. woman's college.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smith.edu/newssmith/NSSpr01/timeline.html|title=The Simmons Years|access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref>
=== Brown University presidency === [[File:Ruth Simmons at 2006 Commencement.jpg|thumb|Ruth Simmons at Brown's 2006 Commencement. David Cicilline, then mayor of Providence, behind her.]] [[File:Ruth_J._Simmons.jpg|thumb|upright|Simmons in 2008 during her tenure as President of Brown University]] In November 2000, Simmons was named as the first African-American woman to head an Ivy League school.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/obama-legacy/first-black-heroes.html |title=First Black Heroes - Successful African Americans |newspaper=Washington Post |first=William |last=Wan |date=April 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/11/opinion/a-new-president-for-brown-university.html?pagewanted=print "A New President for Brown University"], ''New York Times'', November 11, 2000.</ref> She officially assumed office in October 2001, succeeding Gordon Gee. She also held appointments as a professor in the departments of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies. In 2002, ''Ms.'' magazine named her a Woman of the Year; in 2001, ''Time'' named her as America's best college president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruth J. Simmons: 2001-2012 - Office of the President - Brown University |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/president/people/past-presidents/ruth-j-simmons-2001-2012#:~:text=In%25202001%2520Time%2520magazine%2520named,Brown%2520University%2520faculty%2520can%2520bestow. |access-date=2022-07-06 |website=www.brown.edu}}</ref>
At Brown, she launched a $1.4 billion initiative known as ''Boldly Brown: The Campaign for Academic Enrichment'' to enhance Brown's academic programs. The campaign would surpass its original goal, raising $1.61 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=January 20 |last2=Kidwell 401-863-2476 |first2=2011 Media contact: Sarah |title=University announces success of $1.4B 'Boldly Brown' campaign |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2011/01/campaign |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=news.brown.edu |language=en}}</ref> In 2004, former Brown student Sidney E. Frank made the largest aggregate monetary contribution to Brown in its history in the amount of $120 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/684/40/|title=The Giver|website=Brown Alumni Magazine|access-date=December 12, 2017}}</ref>
In 2007, philanthropist Warren Alpert made a similar contribution to strengthen the programs of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in the amount of $100 million. As reported in a May 22, 2009 press release, Brown Chancellor Thomas J. Tisch announced the early attainment of the $1.6 billion fundraising campaign and the continued pursuit of specific subsidiary goals in support of endowments for student scholarships of the Brown faculty and internationalization programs through the originally planned campaign to be continued through December 31, 2010.<ref>[https://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/05/campaign "'Boldly Brown' Campaign Crosses the $1.4-Billion Mark; Work Continues"]. Press Release from Brown University, May 22, 2009.</ref>
In 2006, during an orientation meeting with parents, Simmons denied interest in the presidency of Harvard University, headed at the time by interim president Derek Bok. Nevertheless, a 2007 ''New York Times'' article, featuring a photograph of Simmons, reported that the Harvard Corporation, responsible for selecting the university's replacement for former president Lawrence Summers, had been given a list of "potential candidates" that included her name.<ref>{{cite news|first=Alan |last=Finder|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/education/08harvard.html?ex=1325912400&en=0206445d233ad9fd&ei=5088|title=Headhunters at Harvard May Pick a Woman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>
In August 2007, Simmons was invited to deliver the 60th Annual Reading of the historic 1790 George Washington Letter to Touro Synagogue at the Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, in response to Moses Seixas on religious pluralism.<ref>[https://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2007/08/keynote-address "Brown President Ruth J. Simmons to Speak at Touro Synagogue"]. Press Release from Brown University, August 15, 2007.</ref> According to a March 2009 poll by ''The Brown Daily Herald'', Simmons had more than an 80% approval rating among Brown undergraduates.<ref>{{cite web|first=Hannah |last=Moser |author2=Seth Motel|url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/2009/03/30/students-support-fall-weekend/ |title=Students support 'Fall Weekend'|website=The Brown Daily Herald|date= March 30, 2009}}</ref>
In September 2011, Simmons announced that she would step down from her position as President of Brown at the end of the 2011–12 academic year, initially saying she would remain at Brown as a professor of comparative literature and Africana studies. She was succeeded as the President of Brown on June 30, 2012, by Christina Paxson.<ref>{{cite web|first=Patricia |last=Daddona|url=http://pbn.com/RI-college-leaders-paid-well-compared-to-peers,97788?print=1 |title=R.I. college leaders paid well compared to peers|website=Providence Business News|date=June 14, 2014}}</ref>
==== Goldman Sachs role and compensation ==== Simmons earned annual compensations of more than $300,000 from Goldman Sachs (on top of her annual salary from Brown of more than $500,000), while serving on the Goldman board of directors during the 2008 financial crisis; in addition, she left the Goldman board (which she had joined in 2000) in 2009 with more than $4.3 million in Goldman stock.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news|first=Graham |last=Bowley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/business/02brown.html=print |title=Questions at Brown on Ruth Simmons's Role at Goldman|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 1, 2010}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>[http://www.browndailyherald.com/2011/10/10/simmons-defends-goldman-ties/ Simmons defends Goldman ties<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> During her term on Goldman's board, she also served on the compensation committee of Goldman's ten-person board, which decided how large Goldman executives' post-crash bonuses would be: these bonuses included a $68 million bonus for the company's chairman and CEO, Lloyd C. Blankfein, in 2007, and a $9 million bonus in 2009, after Goldman received money in the federal TARP bailout.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref name=autogenerated2 /> The revelations of Simmons's role received intense criticism from both alumni and students with a then-sophomore stating that Simmons's actions "brought shame on the university."<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Simmons was cited in the 2010 film ''Inside Job'', as an example of the conflicts of interest between university economics departments and deregulation of financial institutions.<ref>''Inside Job'', Charles Ferguson, 2010.</ref>
==== Transnational initiatives at Brown ==== In 2003, Simmons established the ''University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.'' In 2006, the ''Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice'' was published, examining the university's complex history with the transatlantic slave trade.<ref>[https://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/ Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice] from Brown University.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Frances |last=FitzGerald|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/09/12/050912fa_fact1 |title=Peculiar Institutions|magazine=The New Yorker|date= September 12, 2005|page= 68}}</ref><ref>[https://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/documents/SlaveryAndJustice.pdf "Slavery and Justice report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice"]. Brown University, 2006.</ref> On February 16, 2007, at an event celebrating the 200th anniversary of the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the involvement of Cambridge University alumni William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and William Pitt the Younger, Simmons delivered a lecture at St. John's College, Cambridge, entitled ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20090815000009/http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/chapel_and_choir/bicentenary_2007/antislavery_conference/ Hidden in Plain Sight: Slavery and Justice in Rhode Island]''.<ref>[http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/chapel_and_choir/bicentenary_2007/antislavery_conference/ "Slavery: Then and Now"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815000009/http://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/chapel_and_choir/bicentenary_2007/antislavery_conference/ |date=2009-08-15 }}. Anti-Slavery Conference at St John's College, February 2007</ref> Also in February 2007, Brown University published its official ''Response to the Report of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice'' following the completion of the inquiry undertaken by the committee appointed by Simmons.<ref>[https://brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/documents/SJ_response_to_the_report.pdf "Brown & Slavery & Justice | Confronting Brown University’s history with racial slavery to change the present"], Brown University.</ref>
In October 2007, Simmons appointed David W. Kennedy, as vice president for international affairs.<ref>[https://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2007/10/international-affairs "David Kennedy Named Vice President for International Affairs"]. Press Release on International Affairs from Brown University, October 13, 2007.</ref> Brown and Banco Santander of Spain inaugurated an annual series of International Advanced Research Institutes to convene younger scholars from emerging and developing countries at Brown in a signing ceremony on November 13, 2008, at the John Hay Library between Brown provost David Kertzer and Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander.<ref>[http://www.watsoninstitute.org/news_detail.cfm?id=992 Watson Institute]</ref> In March 2010, Simmons traveled to India as part of a program called the Year of India, dedicated to improving the understanding of Indian history, politics, education, and culture among Brown students and faculty.<ref>[http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/29212905/Ruth-J-Simmons--We-want-our-s.html Ruth J. Simmons | We want our students to be aware of India] ''Live Mint'', March 30, 2010.</ref><ref>[https://www.brown.edu/web/india/ Year of India], ''Brown University's Year of India''.</ref>
On September 15, 2011, Simmons announced that she would retire from the Brown presidency at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-09-16 |title=Simmons to Step Down as President of Brown U. |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/simmons-to-step-down-as-president-of-brown-u/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}</ref>
=== Prairie View A&M University presidency === In 2017, after five years of retirement, Simmons accepted an offer to serve as the interim president of Prairie View A&M University, an HBCU in her home state of Texas. She served as interim president from July 1, 2017 to December 3, 2017.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Allan |first=Sammy |date=2018-04-22 |title=Simmons' Presidency Ushers in New Era for Prairie View |url=http://diverseeducation.com/article/114768/ |magazine=Diverse |language=en-US}}</ref> On December 4, 2017, she was selected as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, becoming the first woman to do so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pvamu.edu/news/2017/06/19/ruth-simmons-ph-d-named-interim-president-of-prairie-view-am-university/|title=Ruth Simmons, Ph.D. Named Interim President of Prairie View A&M University : PVAMU News|website=www.pvamu.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619233837/http://www.pvamu.edu/news/2017/06/19/ruth-simmons-ph-d-named-interim-president-of-prairie-view-am-university/|archive-date=2017-06-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/people/back-on-texas-soil|title = Back on Texas Soil}}</ref>
At Prairie View A&M, Simmons focused her efforts on improving the university's financial stability, particularly on fundraising through an anonymous donor for the ''Panther Success Grants'' for undergraduates. Her vision for the university was to "ensure that Prairie View A&M University sustains excellence in teaching, research, and service for another 140-plus years...we will raise funds in a new and vital way so that the University will have the flexibility it needs to advance and make more visible its reach."<ref name="bloomberg revives-a-black-college">{{cite news |last1=Lorin |first1=Janet |title=Ivy League Star, a Sharecropper's Child, Revives a Black College |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-19/ivy-league-star-a-sharecropper-s-child-revives-a-black-college |access-date=21 March 2021 |work=Bloomberg News |date=19 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Prairie View A&M University Receives $10,000,000 Gift for Financial Aid |url=https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/PRAIRIE-VIEW-AM-UNIVERSITY-RECEIVES-10000000-GIFT-FOR-FINANCIAL-AID-11.10.2020.pdf |access-date=21 March 2021 |work=Prairie View A&M University |date=November 9, 2020}}</ref> On March 11, 2022, Simmons announced that she would retire from her role as president when the university named her successor.<ref name="diverseeducation.com"/>
In 2022, Prairie View A&M announced that scholarships had increased and donations to the university had grown by 40% during Simmons’ 5-year presidency.<ref name="McGee" />
=== Civic activities and honors === * Simmons is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ruth Simmons|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/ruth-simmons|access-date=2021-12-08|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}}</ref> the American Philosophical Society,<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Ruth+J.+Simmons&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-12-08|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> and the Council on Foreign Relations. She previously served as chair of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents and is an honorary fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emeritus Fellows |url=https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/emeritus-fellows |publisher=Selwyn College |access-date=10 June 2020}}</ref> * In 2000, Simmons received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref> * On June 17, 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Simmons to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.<ref>[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Appointments-to-the-Presidents-Commission-on-White-House-Fellowships/ "President Obama Announces Appointments to the President's Commission on White House Fellowships"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411113924/https://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Appointments-to-the-Presidents-Commission-on-White-House-Fellowships/ |date=2010-04-11 }}, ''The White House'', June 17, 2009.</ref> * On January 16, 2010, Simmons received a BET Honors award for her service as president of Brown University.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Skocpol|first=Michael|date=2010-01-18|title=Honored by BET, Simmons rubs elbows with the stars|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/01/18/honored-by-bet-simmons-rubs-elbows-with-the-stars/|access-date=2021-06-21|website=Brown Daily Herald|language=en-US}}</ref> * In 2010, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her many humanitarian efforts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=EIHS Medalists|url=http://medalists.eihonors.org/index.html|access-date=2021-02-02|website=medalists.eihonors.org}}</ref> * In 2012, Brown University renamed Lincoln Field in her honor as Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nickel |first1=Mark |title=Corporation honor: The Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2012/05/simmonsquad |access-date=1 April 2023 |publisher=Brown University |date=25 May 2012}}</ref> *In 2012, Simmons received honorary doctorates from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Houston, and the University of Rochester.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=May 11 |last2=Nickel 401-863-2476 |first2=2012 Media contact: Mark |title=Honorary degrees for Ruth Simmons |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2012/05/honorary-degrees-ruth-simmons |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=news.brown.edu |language=en}}</ref> *Simmons was named a ''Chevalier'' of the French Legion of Honor in 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-06 |title=Race in America: HBCUs with Ruth J. Simmons, PhD |language=en |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/10/11/race-america-hbcus-with-ruth-j-simmons-phd/ |access-date=2023-06-29}}</ref> * Simmons was selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50; made up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators who are over the age of 50.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Elana Lyn |last2=Voytko |first2=Lisette |last3=McGrath |first3=Maggie |url=https://www.forbes.com/50over50/ |title=The New Golden Age |work=Forbes |date=2021-06-02 |accessdate=2021-06-02 }}</ref> * In 2023, Brown University renamed its ''Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice'' in honor of Simmons.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kimball |first1=Jill |title=Brown University renames Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice in honor of Ruth J. Simmons |url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2023-03-30/simmons-center |access-date=1 April 2023 |publisher=Brown University |date=30 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Two decades later, Brown to rename center after former president who pushed the university to examine its roots to slavery |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/30/metro/two-decades-later-brown-rename-center-after-former-president-who-pushed-university-examine-its-roots-slavery/ |first=Alexa|last=Gagosz|access-date=1 April 2023 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=30 March 2023}}</ref> * Also in 2023, Simmons delivered the 2023 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberg |first=Susan H. |title=Ruth Simmons Delivers Stirring Tribute to the Humanities |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/09/27/ruth-simmons-delivers-stirring-tribute-humanities|date=September 27, 2023 |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref> *In 2024, Simmons was elected as a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.<ref name=TIL>{{cite news|url=https://texasinstituteofletters.org/twelve-new-members-elected-to-til/|date=March 3, 2024|title=Twelve New Members Elected to TIL|work=Texas Institute of Letters}}</ref>
== Works ==
* {{cite book |last=Simmons |first=Ruth J. |title=Up Home |date=2023-09-05 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-593-44600-3}} <ref>{{Cite web |last=MACMILLAN |first=JOHN |date=December 19, 2023 |title=The Improbable Life of Ruth J. Simmons |url=https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/improbable-life-ruth-j-simmons |website=smith.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ards |first=Angela |date=2023-09-07 |title=How "America's Best University President" Rose From the Cotton Fields of East Texas |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/ruth-simmons-university-president-memoir-up-home/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruth J. Simmons: From Brown to Now |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/09/ruth-j-simmons-from-brown-to-now |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-08-29 |title=Review {{!}} The inspiring story of the first Black Ivy League president |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/08/29/ruth-simmons-brown-memoir-review/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |newspaper=Washington Post|first=Stacia L.|last=Brown |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Southgate |first=Martha |date=2023-08-22 |title=The Making of an Ivy League President: Two Women's Stories |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/22/books/review/necessary-trouble-drew-gilpin-faust-up-home-ruth-simmons.html |access-date=2024-06-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal bar|United States|Rhode Island|Texas}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading== *{{Cite book |last=Simmons |first=Ruth J. |url=|title=Up Home: One Girls Journey |publisher=Penguin Random House |year=2023 |isbn=9780593446003 |language=en-US}} (memoir)
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140827045113/https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/president/simmons Ruth J. Simmons: 2001–2012]; from the Office of the President, Brown University * [http://www.makers.com/ruth-simmons "Ruth Simmons"]. Video produced by ''Makers: Women Who Make America''
{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{s-bef | before = Mary Maples Dunn }} {{s-ttl | order = 9th | title = President of Smith College | years = 1995–2001 }} {{s-aft | after = Carol Christ }} |- {{s-bef | before = Gordon Gee }} {{s-ttl | order = 18th | title = President of Brown University | years = 2001–2012 }} {{s-aft | after = Christina Paxson }} |- {{s-bef | before = George C. Wright }} {{s-ttl | order = 8th | title = President of Prairie View A&M University | years = 2017–2023 }} {{s-aft | after = Tomikia P. LeGrande }} {{s-end|s after=}} {{Smith College presidents}} {{Brown University presidents}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Ruth}} Category:1945 births Category:20th-century African-American academics Category:20th-century African-American women Category:20th-century American academics Category:20th-century American women academics Category:21st-century African-American academics Category:21st-century African-American women Category:21st-century American academics Category:African-American academic administrators Category:African-American women academic administrators Category:American educational theorists Category:American people of Caribbean descent Category:American people of Gabonese descent Category:American people of Kota (Gabon) descent Category:American women academic administrators Category:Brown University faculty Category:Dillard University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Literature educators Category:Living people Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society Category:Native American academics Category:Native American women academics Category:People from Grapeland, Texas Category:Prairie View A&M University people Category:Presidents of Brown University Category:Presidents of Smith College Category:Princeton University faculty Category:Women heads of universities and colleges