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Decolonize Black History Month

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Day 15: Ruth Simmons From October 14, 2001 to June 30, 2012, Ruth Simmons held the office of President of Brown University. She was the first woman to hold this position and the first Black person to run any Ivy League School. During her time at Brown, Simmons was highly regarded by the student body, with an approval rating of 80%. She helmed several initiatives to improve the school, such as restructuring Brown's Corporation, revising policies to allow for a more fair admissions process, and championing a curriculum that produced global-minded students. "Boldly Brown: The Campaign for Academic Enrichment" was another project of Simmons'. It pledged over 1 billion dollars toward Brown’s academic programs and financial aid.
Simmons was born on July 3, 1945 to a family of sharecroppers in Grapeland, Texas. She has 11 older siblings. With the help of scholarship funds, Simmons attended Dillard University and graduated in 1967. Simmons immediately went on to earn both a master’s (1970) and doctorate (1979) in Romance Languages and Literature from Harvard University. She has served as a faculty member at the University of Southern California (associate dean of graduate students), Princeton University (vice provost), and Spelman College (provost). In 1995 Simmons became president of Smith College, where she helped to double the size of the endowment, establish the first engineering program at a women’s college, and build a program of paid internships for students.
Simmons has received numerous prizes, fellowships, and honorary degrees. Among these awards are the Centennial Medal from Harvard University (1999), the President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund (2001), the Fullbright Lifetime Achievement Medal (2002), ROBIE Humanitarian Award from the Jackie Robinson Foundation (2004), and Brown’s Rosenberger Medal (2011). She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.