Ruth J. Simmons

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ruth J. Simmons

Ruth Simmons (* 3. July 1945 in Grapeland , Texas ) is an American Romance languages , high school teacher , 2001-2012 President of Brown University and the first African-American President of the University one of the top universities of the Ivy League .

biography

Ruth Simmons is a great-great-granddaughter of slaves who grew up on a farm as the youngest of twelve children. After attending school, she studied at Dillard University in New Orleans . She completed her studies in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts . She completed a subsequent postgraduate course at Princeton University in 1970 with a Master of Arts before she obtained a Philosophiae Doctor (Ph.D.) in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1973 .

In 1983 she accepted a position as professor of Romance languages at Princeton University. She taught there until she was appointed Provost of Spelman College , Georgia in 1990. In 1992, she became Vice-Provost of Princeton University before serving as President of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts between 1995 and 2001 .

She is also active in the private sector and was a board member of Pfizer between 1997 and 2007 . In 1999 she also became a board member of Texas Instruments . She has also served on the Goldman Sachs board of directors since 2000 .

On October 14, 2001, Ruth Simmons succeeded Gordon Gee as President of Brown University in Providence , while Gee was in turn Chancellor of Vanderbilt University . As President, she initiated an ambitious fundraising program to improve Brown University’s financial resources ( Boldly Brown: The Campaign for Academic Enrichment ). The projected target was the sum of 1.4 billion US $. In 2005, Simmons persuaded entrepreneur and former Brown student Sidney Frank to donate US $ 120 million to Brown's academic programs and grants. In 2007, entrepreneur Warren Alpert donated US $ 100 million. In his honor, Brown Medical School was renamed The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University . In a press release on May 22, 2009, University Chancellor Thomas J. Tisch announced that the target of US $ 1.4 billion in donations had been reached before the originally planned date of December 31, 2010.

Ruth Simmons is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , the American Philosophical Society , the Carnegie Corporation Trustees, and the Council on Foreign Relations . In 2004 she supported Carol Moseley Braun in her unsuccessful application for the Democratic nomination for the US presidential election . In addition, she has received numerous honorary doctorates .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ THE NEW YORK TIMES: Women at the Top of Academe (September 4, 2001)
  2. ↑ US NEWS: Ruth J. Simmons (November 12, 2007)
  3. ↑ 'Boldly Brown' Campaign Crosses the $ 1.4-Billion Mark; Work Continues Brown University press release, May 22, 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Simmons, Ruth J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Romance Studies, University Professor and University President
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Grapeland , Texas