24 Facts About Ruth Simmons

Ruth Simmons was born on Ruth Jean Stubblefield, July 3,1945 and is an American professor and academic administrator.

Ruth Simmons is a professor of literature specializing in the Romance languages.

In February 2023, Ruth Simmons announced her plans to advise Harvard University on fostering relationships with historically black universities.

Ruth Simmons is the last of 12 children of Fanny and Isaac Stubblefield.

Ruth Simmons's father was a sharecropper up until the family moved to Houston during her school years.

Ruth Simmons earned her bachelor's degree, on scholarship, from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1967.

Ruth Simmons earned her master's and a doctorate in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively.

Ruth Simmons was an assistant professor of French at the University of New Orleans from 1973 to 1976 and assistant dean of UNO's College of Liberal Arts from 1975 to 1976.

Ruth Simmons moved to California State University, Northridge in 1977 as administrative coordinator of its NEH Liberal Studies Project.

Ruth Simmons moved to the University of Southern California in 1979 as assistant dean of graduate studies and later as associate dean of graduate studies.

Ruth 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.

In 1995, Ruth Simmons was selected as president of Smith College, which she led until 2001.

In November 2000, Ruth Simmons was named as the first African-American woman to head an Ivy League school.

Ruth Simmons officially assumed office in October 2001, succeeding Gordon Gee.

Ruth Simmons held appointments as a professor in the departments of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies.

In 2006, during an orientation meeting with parents, Ruth 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 Ruth 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.

Ruth Simmons was succeeded as the President of Brown on June 30,2012, by Christina Paxson.

In 2003, Ruth Simmons established the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.

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, Ruth Simmons delivered a lecture at St John's College, Cambridge, entitled Hidden in Plain Sight: Slavery and Justice in Rhode Island.

In October 2007, Simmons appointed David W Kennedy, as vice president for international affairs.

In March 2010, Ruth 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.

On September 15,2011, Ruth Simmons announced that she would retire from the Brown presidency at the end of the academic year, June 30,2012.

Ruth Simmons served as interim president from July 1,2017 to December 3,2017.