Ruth Simmons: 1st Black President of an Ivy League School

Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Leshell Hatley in Computer Science, Faculty, I'm a Full Professor!, Nursing, Scholarly Celebrations, Sociology

Ruth J. Simmons was sworn in as the 18th president of Brown University on July 3, 2001. She also holds an appointment as professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Department of Africana Studies. She was president of Smith College from 1995 until the time of her appointment at Brown.

Education
A native of Texas and a 1967 graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, Simmons received her Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures from Harvard University in 1973. She is fluent in French and has written on the works of David Diop and Aime Cesaire.

Career
In 1983, after serving as associate dean of the graduate school at the University of Southern California, Simmons joined the Princeton University administration. She remained at Princeton for seven years, leaving in 1990 for two years to serve as provost at Spelman College. Returning to Princeton in 1992 as vice provost, she remained at the university until June 30, 1995. As vice provost she was deputy to the provost and executive secretary of the Priorities Committee, the university’s budget committee. In 1993, invited by the president to review the state of race relations on the Princeton campus, Simmons wrote a report that resulted in a number of initiatives that received widespread attention. In 1995 she became president of Smith College, the largest women’s college in the United States, where she launched a number of strategic initiatives to strengthen the college’s academic programs and inaugurated the first engineering program at a U.S. women’s college.

Dr. Ruth Simmons

Simmons is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a current officer and past President of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, an Honorary Fellow at Selwyn College at Cambridge University, and she serves on a number of boards, including the Howard University Board of Trustees, Texas Instruments, and the Goldman Sachs Group. She was recently appointed by President Obama as a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. Active in a wide range of educational, charitable, and civic endeavors, she holds honorary degrees from numerous colleges and universities, including Amherst College, Bard College, Howard University, Dillard University, Princeton University, Lake Forest College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dartmouth College, Boston University, Northeastern University, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, Mount Holyoke College, Washington University in St. Louis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The George Washington University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Ewha Womens College, University of Southern California, Tougaloo College, Jewish Theological Seminary, University of Toronto, Providence College, University of Vermont, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Union College, and The American College of Greece.

Awards
Simmons is the recipient of a number of prizes and fellowships, including the German DAAD and a Fulbright Fellowship to France. In 1997 she was awarded the Centennial Medal from Harvard University, in 1999 the Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service from Columbia University, and in 2001 the President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund. She has been honored with the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and the 2002 “Drum Major for Justice” education award from Southern Christian Leadership Conference/WOMEN. In 2004 she received the ROBIE Humanitarian Award, given by the Jackie Robinson Foundation; the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal; and the chairman’s award of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She was selected as a Newsweek “person to watch” and as a Ms. Woman of the Year in 2002. In 2001 Time magazine named her America’s best college president. In 2007, she was named one of U. S. News & World Report’s top U.S. leaders and — for the second time — a Glamour magazine Woman of the Year.

Recent Accomplishments
In recent years Simmons, an articulate spokesperson and writer, has written and delivered papers or presentations on a wide array of educational and public policy issues, including institutional governance, foreign language study, diversity, liberal arts, science education, leadership, and women in higher education. Among numerous educational institutions and national forums, she has been a featured speaker at the White House, the World Economic Forum, the National Press Club, the Association of American Universities, and the American Council on Education. In September 2001 ABC News tapped her to serve as a respondent during its live telecast following President Bush’s address to Congress.

During her tenure at Brown University, Simmons has created an ambitious set of initiatives designed to expand and strengthen the faculty; increase financial support and resources for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students; improve facilities; renew a broad commitment to shared governance; and ensure that diversity informs every dimension of the university. These initiatives have led to a major investment of new resources in Brown’s educational mission.

Dr. Ruth Simmons has been featured in Ebony Magazine’s POWER150 (December2009/January2010).

As an academic leader, Simmons believes in the power of education to transform lives. She champions the university as a haven of reasoned debate with the responsibility to challenge students intellectually and prepare them to become informed, conscientious citizens. She has spent her career advocating for a leadership role for higher education in the arena of national and global affairs.

===All information obtained from Dr. Simmons’ bio on Brown University’s website.

UPDATE February 2, 2010: Dr. Simmons is also a Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. – the sorority’s highest honor.

More Related posts:

1. Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.: Founding Dean and 1st President of Morehouse School of Medicine
2. Marian Wright Edelman: Activist, NAACP Lawyer, Founder of Children's Defense Fund
3. [ HBCU_Presidents ] Dwight O. W. Holmes: 1st Black President of Morgan State
4. [HBCU Presidents] Dr. Dorothy Yancy: 1st Female President of Shaw University
5. Jacob Lawrence: Painter, Artist, Educator

Tags: 1st Black Nurse in America, 2009 Salute to Black Achievers Award for Education at, 2nd African-American to earn a PhD from Harvard, Alain Locke, Amercian's Dad, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Conservatory Theatre, American Philosophical Society, and The American College of Greece, and the American Council on Education, Apple, Association of Governing Boards Task Force on the State of the Presidency in American Higher Education in 2006, Bard College, Barnard Medal of Distinction, Barry C. Black, Black Feminist Thought, Boston University, Boston University School of Medicine, California State University in Stanislaus, Centennial Medal from Harvard University, Chair of the President’s Commission on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, chairman’s award of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Cheikh Anta Diop, Children's Defense Fund, CIC Minorities Fellowships Program, Columbia University, Council on Foreign Relations, Dartmouth College, Dillard University, Disney, Dr. Dorothy Cowser Yancy, Dr. Helen S. Faison Chair in Urban Education, Dr. Ivory V. Nelson, Drum Major for Justice, Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, Ewha Womens College, Expressively Black: The Cultural Basis of Ethnic Identity, featured speaker at the White House, first engineering program at a U.S. women’s college., Florida Atlantic Univeristy, for the second time — a Glamour magazine Woman of the Year., French Oriental Archaeological Society in Egypt and the Sudan, Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, German DAAD and a Fulbright Fellowship to France, Germantown High School, Goldman Sachs Group., Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Harvard Institute of Educational Managemen, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Head of the UCLA Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program, honorary Doctor of Letters and Laws degree from Paine College, Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, House Education and Labor Committee, Howard University, Howard University Board of Trustees, Hugo Black, human relations, Inc., including Amherst College, Jackie Robinson Foundation, James Weldon Johnson, Jewish Theological Seminary, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Journal of Negro History, Lake Forest College, Lou Rawls, Marian Wright Edelman, Maya Angelou, Mayor, Monsters, Morehouse College, Mount Holyoke College, Ms. Woman of the Year in 2002, National Historic Chemical Landmark, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, New York University, Newsweek “person to watch”, North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Foundation Board, Northeastern University, Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Oscar Brown, Outstanding Faculty Member by the Georgia Tech Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, parents, Paul Robeson, PRAYING MINISTERS 1962, President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund, Princeton University, Providence College, Regina Award, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, ROBIE Humanitarian Award, Ruth Benedict, Ruth J. Simmons, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Selwyn College at Cambridge University, she holds honorary degrees from numerous colleges and universities, Sidney Poitier, Smith College, Southern Christian Leadership Conference/WOMEN, Spelman College, Teachers College Medal for Distinguished Service from Columbia University, Texas Instruments, the Association of American Universities, The George Washington University, the National Press Club, the World Economic Forum, Time magazine named her America’s best college president, Torchbearer Award in Education, Tougaloo College, Tzagournis Medical Research Facility, U. S. News & World Report’s top U.S. leaders, Union College, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Kentucky, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee, University of Toronto, University of Vermont, Walter Sammons, Washington University in St. Louis, William A. Lavalette