Ruth Simmons
| Ruth J. Simmons | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 18th President of Brown University | |
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In office October 14, 2001 – June 30, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Gordon Gee |
| Succeeded by | Christina Paxson |
| 9th president of Smith College | |
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In office 1995–2001 |
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| Preceded by | Mary Maples Dunn |
| Succeeded by | Carol T. Christ |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ruth Jean Stubblefield July 3, 1945 Grapeland, Texas, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Norbert Alonzo Simmons |
| Children | Khari C. Simmons Maya A. Simmons |
| Residence | Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Dillard University Harvard University |
| Religion | Christianity |
Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield; July 3, 1945) was the 18th president of Brown University, the first black president of an Ivy League institution. Simmons was elected Brown's first female president in November 2000. Simmons assumed office in fall of 2001. Simmons holds appointments as a professor in the Departments of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies. In 2002, Newsweek selected her as a Ms. Woman of the Year, while in 2001, Time named her as America's best college president. According to a March 2009 poll by The Brown Daily Herald, Simmons had more than an 80% approval rating among Brown undergraduates.
On September 15, 2011, Simmons announced that she would step down from the Brown presidency at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2012. She initially said she would continue at Brown as Professor of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies after a short leave. However, as of 2016, Simmons had not returned to Brown's faculty.
Simmons was born in Grapeland, Texas, the last of 12 children of Fanny (née Campbell) and Isaac Stubblefield. Her father was a sharecropper, until the family moved to Houston during her school years. Her paternal grandfather descends partly from the Benza and Kota people, slaves from Gabon. She earned her bachelor's degree, on scholarship, from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1967. She went on to earn her master's and doctorate in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively.
Simmons's first positions in academic administration were at the University of Southern California, starting in 1979 as assistant dean of graduate studies, and then as associate dean of graduate studies. She was a professor of Romance languages and became a dean at Princeton University from 1983 to 1990. She served as provost at Spelman College from 1990 to 1992.
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