Ruth Simmons is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, a HBCU, from 2017 until 2023. From 2001 to 2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University, where she was the first African American president of an Ivy League institution. Before Brown University, she headed Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters and the largest women’s college in the United States, beginning in 1995.
In 2017, Simmons was called out of retirement to head Prairie View in her home state of Texas, where she increased scholarships and funding. She stepped down as president there in 2023. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, an honorary fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor.
In February 2023, Simmons announced plans to advise Harvard University regarding relationships with historically black universities (HBCUs). The position began in June 2023. As of April 2023, Simmons is also a President’s Distinguished Fellow at Rice University.