Dr. Ruth J. Simmons: The Journey of Determination
Photo credit: Michael Stravato for The New York Times
“All students are deserving of a good education.” ~ Dr. Ruth J. Simmons
Dr. Ruth J. Simmons’ path to success is one of determination and perseverance. She is the voice of excellence and that of purpose.
She is the former President of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Prairie View A&M University where she served as until the end of February 2023.
Dr. Simmons is the youngest of twelve children born to sharecroppers in the small city of Grapeland, Texas but later moved to Houston, Texas where she continued her education.
She graduated from Dillard University and received her Master’s and Doctorate in Romance Literature from Harvard University. Dr. Simmons was an assistant and associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Southern California before moving to Princeton University to serve as assistant dean of faculty. She later served as provost at Spellman College before returning to Princeton.
She started the first engineering program at Smith College as president after leaving Princeton.
In 2000, she became the first African American woman to head an Ivy League school when she was hired as President of Brown University. While at Brown she completed a $1.4 billion initiative which is the largest initiative in Brown University history known as the “Boldy Brown: The Campaign for Academic Enrichment”. During her time at Brown, she was named “Ms. Woman of the Year” by Newsweek and “America’s Best College President” by Time.
Dr. Simmons retired after Brown University. However, during her retirement Prairie View reached out to her with an invitation of presidency of the university. She is the first woman selected to serve as president of Prairie View A&M. Her focused effort was on improving the financial stability of the university and to promote a narrative throughout the country of Prairie View that is strong. Her plan as president was to ensure Prairie View sustains excellence in teaching, research and service.
After the death of George Floyd, The Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice on the campus of Prairie View was created. The purpose of the center is to teach how to engage and confront inequality by teaching people you encounter without backing down.
When asked during an interview, “Why do you feel HBCU’s are still needed?” She made a profound statement within her response, “The students need someone to embrace them that does not make assumptions about their worth and their future.”
What a gift to education Dr. Ruth J. Simmons has been and I am blessed to call her family.
To come from a place of being desperately poor to the success story she is today is a blessing and a testament of her statement, “There aren’t ceilings unless you impose them on yourself.”
Rita Taylor is the owner of RitaJ Enterprises LLC and is an Author, Speaker, Producer, Director, and former Radio Host. You can learn more about her at www.ritajenterprisesllc.com
