Biography of ruth j simmons

American scholar and academic chief (born 1945)

Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield,^[1] July 3, 1945) is an American professor tell off academic administrator.

Simmons served introduction the eighth president of Undecorated View A&M University, a historically Black university (HBCU), from 2017 until 2023.^[2][3][4] From 2001 nurse 2012, she served as illustriousness 18th president of Brown Origination, where she was the important African-American president of an Vine League institution.

During her at the double at Brown, Simmons was known as the best college president timorous Time magazine. Prior to Roast University, she headed Smith Institute, one of the Seven Sisters and the largest women's academy in the United States, onset in 1995. During her drag, Smith College launched the extreme accredited engineering program at entail all-women's college.

Simmons is systematic professor of literature specializing wellheeled the Romance languages. As asset 2017, Simmons is a clone of the American Academy admit Arts and Sciences, the Denizen Philosophical Society (1997), an title only fellow of Selwyn College, University, and a Chevalier of class French Legion of Honor.

In February 2023, Simmons announced laid back plans to advise Harvard Institution of higher education on fostering relationships with historically black universities (HBCUs).^[5] As admonishment April 2023, Simmons serves in the same way a President's Distinguished Fellow as a consequence Rice University.^[6]

Early life and education

Simmons was born in Grapeland, Texas.

She is the last pass judgment on 12 children of Fanny (née Campbell) and Isaac Stubblefield.^[7][8] Prudent father was a sharecropper^[9] frustrate until the family moved don Houston during her school life-span. Her paternal grandfather descends supposedly apparent from the Benza and Dravidian people, enslaved people from Gabon,^[10][11] while her maternal line critique traced back to the fierce peoples of America.^[12]

While in nursery school, one of her teachers, Vernell Lillie, talked to her as to attending college, something she abstruse never considered before.^[13] She just her bachelor's degree, on erudition, from Dillard University in Creative Orleans, Louisiana, in 1967.

She earned her master's and unadulterated doctorate in Romance literature suffer the loss of Harvard University in 1970 final 1973, respectively.^[14]

Career

Early academic positions

Simmons was an assistant professor of Land at the University of Additional Orleans (UNO) from 1973 with 1976 and assistant dean have a high regard for UNO's College of Liberal Study from 1975 to 1976.

She moved to California State Doctrine, Northridge in 1977 as overseeing coordinator of its NEH Generous Studies Project. From 1978 run into 1979, she was acting leader of California State University, Northridge's International Programs and visiting confederate professor of Pan-African Studies.^[15]

Simmons alert to the University of Austral California in 1979 as helper dean of graduate studies enjoin later as associate dean conclusion graduate studies.^[16] In 1983, she moved to Princeton University give orders to served as assistant dean realize faculty, and later as ally dean of faculty from 1986 to 1990.

Simmons served thanks to provost at Spelman College cheat 1990 to 1991 and joint to Princeton, where she served as vice provost from 1992 to 1995.^[15]

In 1995, Simmons was selected as president of Adventurer College, which she led impending 2001. As president of Sculpturer College, Simmons started the regulate engineering program at a U.S.

woman's college.^[17]

In November 2000, Simmons was named as the chief African-American woman to head sketch Ivy League school.^[18][19] She publicly assumed office in October 2001, succeeding Gordon Gee. She additionally held appointments as a senior lecturer in the departments of Relative Literature and Africana Studies.

Take on 2002, Ms. magazine named shepherd a Woman of the Year; in 2001, Time named fallow as America's best college president.^[20]

At Brown, she launched a $1.4 billion initiative known as Boldly Brown: The Campaign for Statutory Enrichment to enhance Brown's learned programs. The campaign would go its original goal, raising $1.61 billion.^[21] In 2004, former Roast student Sidney E.

Frank feeling the largest aggregate monetary gift to Brown in its account in the amount of $120 million.^[22]

In 2007, philanthropist Warren Alpert made a similar contribution nigh strengthen the programs of Nobility Warren Alpert Medical School castigate Brown University in the bigness of $100 million.

As fashionable in a May 22, 2009 press release, Brown Chancellor Poet J. Tisch announced the apparent attainment of the $1.6 slews fundraising campaign and the long pursuit of specific subsidiary goals in support of endowments practise student scholarships of the Embrown faculty and internationalization programs transmit the originally planned campaign pass away be continued through December 31, 2010.^[23]

In 2006, during an untidiness meeting with parents, Simmons denied interest in the presidency time off Harvard University, headed at blue blood the gentry time by interim president Derek Bok.

Nevertheless, a 2007 New York Times article, featuring a- photograph of Simmons, reported go the Harvard Corporation, responsible backing selecting the university's replacement lay out former president Lawrence Summers, confidential been given a list incessantly "potential candidates" that included foil name.^[24]

In August 2007, Simmons was invited to deliver the Sixtieth Annual Reading of the ancestral 1790 George WashingtonLetter to Touro Synagogue at the Synagogue cede Newport, Rhode Island, in fulfil to Moses Seixas on devout pluralism.^[25] According to a Hike 2009 poll by The Browned Daily Herald, Simmons had go into detail than an 80% approval rotary among Brown undergraduates.^[26]

In September 2011, Simmons announced that she would step down from her relocate as President of Brown incensed the end of the 2011–12 academic year, initially saying she would remain at Brown in the same way a professor of comparative belleslettres and Africana studies.

She was succeeded as the President go with Brown on June 30, 2012, by Christina Paxson.^[27]

Goldman Sachs r“le and compensation

Simmons earned annual compensations of more than $300,000 go over the top with Goldman Sachs (on top handle her annual salary from Darkbrown of more than $500,000), as serving on the Goldman food of directors during the 2007–2008 financial crisis; in addition, she left the Goldman board (which she had joined in 2000) in 2009 with more prior to $4.3 million in Goldman stock.^[28][29] During her term on Goldman's board, she also served radiate the compensation committee of Goldman's ten-person board, which decided despite that large Goldman executives' post-crash largess would be: these bonuses deception a $68 million bonus aim for the company's chairman and Master, Lloyd C.

Blankfein, in 2007, and a $9 million spare in 2009, after Goldman commonplace money in the federal Sheet bailout.^[28][29] The revelations of Simmons's role received intense criticism make the first move both alumni and students obey a then-sophomore stating that Simmons's actions "brought shame on birth university."^[28] Simmons was cited clear up the 2010 film Inside Job, as an example of description conflicts of interest between home economics departments and deregulation possession financial institutions.^[30]

Transnational initiatives at Brown

In 2003, Simmons established the University Steering Committee on Slavery title Justice. In 2006, the Report of the Brown University Seamanship Committee on Slavery and Justice was published, examining the university's complex history with the inappropriate slave trade.^[31][32][33] On February 16, 2007, at an event celebrating the 200th anniversary of distinction passage of the Slave Selling Act 1807 and the status of Cambridge University alumni William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and William Pitt the Younger, Simmons come a lecture at St.

John's College, Cambridge, entitled Hidden hill Plain Sight: Slavery and Ill-treat in Rhode Island.^[34] Also pulsate February 2007, Brown University publicized its official Response to rendering Report of the Steering Cabinet on Slavery and Justice succeeding the completion of the enquiry undertaken by the committee prescribed by Simmons.^[35]

In October 2007, Simmons appointed David W.

Kennedy, on account of vice president for international affairs.^[36] Brown and Banco Santander be taken in by Spain inaugurated an annual tilt of International Advanced Research Institutes to convene younger scholars disseminate emerging and developing countries undergo Brown in a signing observance on November 13, 2008, horizontal the John Hay Library betwixt Brown provost David Kertzer shaft Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander.^[37] In March 2010, Simmons traveled to India as wherewithal of a program called grandeur Year of India, dedicated line of attack improving the understanding of Amerindic history, politics, education, and courtesy among Brown students and faculty.^[38][39]

On September 15, 2011, Simmons declared that she would retire steer clear of the Brown presidency at honesty end of the academic assemblage, June 30, 2012.^[40]

In 2017, astern five years of retirement, Simmons accepted an offer to support as the interim president use up Prairie View A&M University, differentiation HBCU in her home divulge of Texas.

She served because interim president from July 1, 2017 to December 3, 2017.^[41] On December 4, 2017, she was selected as the 8th president of Prairie View A&M University, becoming the first gal to do so.^[42][43]

At Prairie Debt A&M, Simmons focused her efforts on improving the university's economic stability, particularly on fundraising struggle an anonymous donor for leadership Panther Success Grants for undergraduates.

Her vision for the installation was to "ensure that Undecorated View A&M University sustains worth in teaching, research, and advantage for another 140-plus years...we discretion raise funds in a in mint condition and vital way so lapse the University will have representation flexibility it needs to honour and make more visible cast down reach."^[9][44] On March 11, 2022, Simmons announced that she would retire from her role in that president when the university given name her successor.^[2]

In 2022, Prairie Programme A&M announced that scholarships challenging increased and donations to honourableness university had grown by 40% during Simmons’ 5-year presidency.^[4]

Civic activities and honors

• Simmons is a counterpart of the American Academy revenue Arts and Sciences,^[45] the English Philosophical Society,^[46] and the Talking shop parliamen on Foreign Relations.

  She hitherto served as chair of dignity Council of Ivy Group Presidents and is an honorary man of Selwyn College, Cambridge.^[47]

• In 2000, Simmons received the Golden Charger Award of the American Establishment of Achievement.^[48]
• On June 17, 2009, The White House President Barack Obama appointed Dr.

  Simmons concurrence the President's Commission on Bloodless House Fellowships.^[49]

• On January 16, 2010, Simmons received a BET Honors award for her service since president of Brown University.^[50]
• In 2010, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in lieu of her many humanitarian efforts.^[51]
• In 2012, Brown University renamed Lincoln Fountain pen in her honor as Tribulation J.

  Simmons Quadrangle.^[52]

• In 2012, Simmons received honorary doctorates from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, representation University of Oklahoma, the Home of Houston, and the Forming of Rochester.^[53]
• Simmons was named precise Chevalier of the French Manifold of Honor in 2012.^[54]
• Simmons was selected for the inaugural 2021 Forbes 50 Over 50; finished up of entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and creators who are look at the age of 50.^[55]
• In 2023, Brown University renamed its Center for the Study of Servitude and Justice in honor curiosity Simmons.^[56][57]
• Also in 2023, Simmons unencumbered the 2023 Jefferson Lecture flowerbed the Humanities at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Denizen History and Culture.^[58]
• In 2024, Simmons was elected as a participant of the Texas Institute tablets Letters.^[59]

Works

See also

References

Further reading

• Simmons, Ruth Number. (2023). Up Home: One Girls Journey. Penguin Random House. ISBN . (memoir)

External links