| 1 | Name: | Dr. Ruth J. Simmons | |
| Institution: | Prairie View A&M University | ||
| Year Elected: | 1997 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 503. Administrators, Bankers and Opinion Leaders from the Public or Private Sectors | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1945 | ||
On December 4, 2017, Ruth J. Simmons was officially named the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University. She is the first woman to serve as president of the university. From 2001-2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University. A French professor before entering university administration, Dr. Simmons previously held an appointment as a professor of comparative literature and of Africana studies at Brown. She graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans before completing her Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures at Harvard University. She served in various administrative roles at the University of Southern California, Princeton University and Spelman College before becoming president of Smith College, the largest women's college in the United States, in 1995. At Smith, she launched a number of initiatives including an engineering program, the first at an American women's college. Dr. Simmons is the recipient of many honors, including a Fulbright Fellowship, the 2001 President's Award from the United Negro College Fund, the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, the 2004 Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, and the 2012 Susan Colver Rosenberger Medal of Honor. She has been a featured speaker in many public venues, including the White House, the World Economic Forum, the National Press Club, the American Council on Education, and the Phi Beta Kappa Lecture at Harvard University. In 2012, she was named a ‘chevalier’ of the French Legion of Honor. | |||