HBCU Alumna and University President says Fulbright was “the most enlightening and empowering experience of my young life.”
As an HBCU scholarship recipient at Dillard University in New Orleans and later the first African American president of an Ivy League university, the career of Dr. Ruth J. Simmons, PhD, has been remarkable for a life-long passion for cross-cultural understanding and showcasing Black excellence in academia.
After graduating from Dillard, Dr. Simmons received a Fulbright award to study at the Université de Lyon in France. She recalls the experience as giving her great insights: “When I set sail in 1967 on the Paquebot France to my Fulbright at the Université de Lyon, I did not understand fully where that journey would take me. During my year in France, my knowledge of French language and culture grew, exposing me to French-speaking countries of Africa and the Caribbean. Because of that experience, I was able to understand better how becoming a professor could enable me to make a significant contribution to the world. Discovering who I was and what I could do, at a time when I was being told by many that I could do little, was the most enlightening and empowering experience of my young life.”
The formative year laid the foundation for a distinguished career in academia. After earning a PhD in Romance Languages and Literature from Harvard University, she served in many capacities: as an assistant professor of French language and assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Orleans, as provost of Spelman College, and vice provost of Princeton University.
In 1995, Dr. Simmons made history. Named the president of Smith College, she became one of the first African American women to head a U.S. college or university, and created the first women’s college engineering program in the United States. In 2001, Dr. Simmons became the first African American president of an Ivy League institution, and earned the title “America’s best college president” from Time magazine. While at Brown, Dr. Simmons led the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, which addressed the institution’s relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, as well as a number of additional initiatives to champion academic excellence and address global issues through international education.
In 2017, Dr. Simmons became president of Prairie View A&M University, marking the culmination of her longstanding support for HBCUs.
In 2023, she was selected to deliver the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Jefferson Lecture—the highest honor the U.S. government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.
Dr. Simmons reflected on the honor of delivering the 2023 Jefferson Lecture, noting that since her own childhood in a sharecropping family, she has “been on a path of learning and self-discovery that has empowered my work in every decade of my life. Persuaded that the humanities can mean everything to young people struggling to understand what their lives can be, I have encouraged students from Smith to Brown to Prairie View A & M to embrace the humanities as a lifeline to happiness and success.”
For her teaching, advising, and leadership, Dr. Simmons has received more than 30 honorary degrees and many other prominent awards, including the Fulbright Association’s Lifetime Achievement Medal, and served on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.
After a lifetime of leadership, Dr. Simmons shared: “In so many ways, the Fulbright experience was pivotal in paving the way for the leadership role that I have played in higher education.”