Simmons, Ruth J. (1945–)
Simmons, Ruth J. (1945–)
African-American educator. Born Ruth Jean Stubblefield, July 3, 1945, in Grapeland, Texas, in a sharecropper's shack; dau. of Isaac and Fannie Stubblefield; Dillard University, BA, 1967; Harvard University, AM, 1970, PhD in romance languages, 1973; m. Norbert Simmons, 1968 (div. 1989); children: daughter Khari; (adopted) Maya.
Was an instructor in French at George Washington University (1968–69), then admissions officer at Radcliffe College (1970–72); at University of New Orleans, was assistant professor of French (1973–75) and assistant dean of the college of liberal arts (1975–76); was assistant dean of graduate school of University of Southern California (1979–82), then associate dean (1982–83); was an administrator at Princeton for 7 years (1983–90); served as provost of Spelman College (1990–92), then vice provost at Princeton (1992–95); was president of Smith College (1995–2000); became president of Brown University (2000), the 1st black president of an Ivy League institution.