Ruth_J._Simmons

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ruth J. Simmons Ruth J. Simmons Ruth J. Simmons than 80% approval rating among Brown undergraduates.[2] Early life and career Ruth J. Simmons earned her bachelor’s degree from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1967 and earned her master’s and doctorate in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively. 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. Smith College Presidency Ruth J. Simmons at Brown University’s 239th Commencement on May 27, 2007 18th President of Brown University Term Predecessor Born Alma mater Salary 2001 – present Gordon Gee 1945 Grapeland, Texas Dillard University, Harvard University $775,715[1] In 1995 Simmons became the first African American woman to head a major college or university when she was selected as president of Smith College, which she led until 2001. As president of Smith College, Simmons started the engineering program. Brown University Presidency Ruth Simmons became president of Brown in 2001. At Brown, she has launched an ambitious $1.4 billion initiative - the largest in Brown’s history - known as the Campaign for Academic Enrichment in order to enhance Brown’s academic programs. In 2005, President Simmons earned enough confidence in her leadership of Brown to motivate philanthropist and former Brown student Sidney E. Frank to make the largest aggregate monetary contribution to Brown in its entire history in the amount of $120 million. The Frank gift was principally devoted to scholarship assistance to Brown students and to Brown’s programs in the sciences. By early 2007, President Simmons had earned the confidence of philanthropist Warren Alpert who made a similarly generous contribution to strengthen the programs of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in the amount of Ruth J. Simmons (born 1945 in Grapeland, Texas), is the 18th president of Brown University and the first black president of an Ivy League institution. She was elected Brown’s first woman president in November of 2000, as described in a laudatory New York Times editorial of November 11, 2000.[1] 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 enjoys a more 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia $100 million, matching the core portion of the Sidney Frank gift to Brown. In a 2006 orientation meeting with parents, Simmons denied interest in the presidency of Harvard University, which at the time was headed by an interim president, Derek Bok. Nevertheless, a 2007 New York Times article, featuring a photograph of 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.[3] In August 2007, President Simmons was invited to deliver the 60th Annual Reading of the historic 1790 George Washington Letter to Touro Synagogue at the Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island in response to Moses Seixas on the subject of religious pluralism.[2] Ruth J. Simmons prominent involvement of Cambridge University alumni William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and William Pitt the Younger, Simmons delivered a lecture at St. John’s College, Cambridge entitled Hidden in Plain Sight: Slavery and Justice in Rhode Island.[3]. Also in February 2007, Brown University published its official Response to the Report of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice following completion of the historic inquiry undertaken by the committee appointed by President Simmons. The bicentenary of the British abolition of the slave trade was also commemorated at Oxford University, notably at Rhodes House. [4] In October 2007, President Simmons appointed David W. Kennedy, the former Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law at Harvard Law School as vice president for international affairs. In addition to supporting the leadership of the Watson Institute for International Studies, the new university officer will lead a multidisciplinary advanced research project in the field of global law, governance and social thought to strengthen the University’s international work in the social sciences.[5] As an additional element of President Simmons’ leadership of Brown’s international efforts, Brown and Banco Santander of Spain inaugurated an annual series of International Advanced Research Institutes to convene a rising generation of scholars from emerging and developing countries at Brown in a signing ceremony on November 13, 2008 at the John Hay Library between Brown provost David Kertzer and Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander.[6] As noted by President Simmons: "To be at the forefront of research today means being in conversation with global peers. The Brown Institutes provide exciting opportunities to encounter new ideas, build collegial relationships and enrich faculty development for young scholars and teachers from around the world."[7] President Simmons has been invited to participate in meetings of global leaders organized by the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Economic Forum at Davos. Transnational initiatives at Brown President Simmons has made internationalization a strategic priority for Brown to better prepare its students for the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly interconnected world. She currently leads an ambitious international agenda that seeks to ensure that Brown students are well prepared for lives and careers that will increasingly have an international dimension; to enable the University effectively to compete for the best students and faculty available for transnational scholarly collaborations; to enhance Brown’s position in addressing global problems; to provide transnational professional development opportunities to young leaders educated at Brown; and to undertake strong dialog with peer institutions in other countries. As the wealth which the founding Brown family contributed to the university was based in part on the triangular slave trade, in 2003 Simmons established the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice to examine this complex history and make recommendations for how the university might approach the relevant issues. The Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justicewas subsequently published. On February 16, 2007 at an event celebrating the 200-year anniversary of the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Civic activities Simmons is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She has served as chair of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents and is an 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Preceded by Gordon Gee Preceded by Mary Maples Dunn President of Brown University 2001 – present President of Smith College 1995 – 2001 • • • • • Ruth J. Simmons Incumbent Succeeded by Carol Christ honorary fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Simmons also serves on the boards of Texas Instruments and Goldman Sachs. She announced in 2007 that she would not seek re-election to the board of directors of Pfizer after serving on the board for 10 years.[4] University of Toronto Tougaloo College Union College University of Vermont Washington University in St. Louis Notes See also: Ivy League Presidents Honoris Causa Degrees • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Amherst College Bard College Boston University Columbia University Dartmouth College Dillard University Ewha Womans University George Washington University Harvard University Howard University Jewish Theological Seminary Lake Forest College University of Massachusetts at Amherst Morehouse College Mount Holyoke College New York University Northeastern University University of Pennsylvania Princeton University Providence College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Spelman College University of Southern California External links • Brown site References [1] http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/ media/storage/paper472/news/2009/02/ 10/CampusNews/ Chancellor.Simmons.Took.Pay.Cut-3621287.shtml [2] http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/ media/storage/paper472/news/2009/03/ 30/CampusNews/ Students.Support.fall.Weekend-3687006.shtml [3] Headhunters at Harvard May Pick a Woman ALAN FINDER, January 8, 2007, The New York Times [4] Simmons to step down from Pfizer board Ross Frazier, 4/4/07, The Brown Daily Herald List of Presidents of Brown University Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_J._Simmons" Categories: Rhode Island universities and colleges navigational boxes, 1945 births, Living people, People from Texas, Brown University faculty, Dillard University alumni, Presidents of Brown University, African American academics, Harvard Centennial Medal recipients, Smith College, American university and college presidents, Literature educators, Harvard University alumni, Princeton University faculty, Fulbright Scholars This page was last modified on 17 May 2009, at 21:13 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers 3