Dear Rice Community,
I am pleased to announce that Ruth J. Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University and president emerita of both Brown University and Smith College, has agreed to join Rice University, starting April 1, as a President’s Distinguished Fellow. President Simmons will work with a variety of programs across campus and will advise the President’s Office on various matters.
As a former director of African American studies at Princeton University and past chair of the Harvard University Visiting Committee for Afro-American Studies, she will provide input on the development of Rice’s Center for African and African American Studies and will continue to be involved in our efforts to consider the legacy of our founder, William Marsh Rice. Ruth, a former Rice trustee, has been a valuable adviser in the process of better understanding our history from the beginning.
She led the 2002 Slavery and Justice Initiative at Brown University, from which sprang scores of similar initiatives across the world. Ruth, who is well known for mentoring many of the nation's leaders, will collaborate with faculty and staff across campus to build out programs for our students to develop future leaders at Rice.
Ruth brings with her a myriad of insights from her career as a faculty member, university president and national leader in higher education. Often cited as one of the most consequential higher education leaders of this generation, and one of the most important and compelling local and national leaders, she has served numerous universities, corporations and nonprofit organizations in an advisory capacity. I am grateful and excited that she will continue her broad and impactful outreach at Rice.
Regards,
President Reginald DesRoches