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An ''Extraordinary''
President, Another Historic Step
Read tributes
to Ruth Simmons from faculty, staff and students.
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The Simmons
Years
1995
- Ruth J. Simmons is inaugurated as
ninth president of Smith College.
1996
- Simmons is named one of NBC Nightly
News' "Most Inspiring Women"; one of Glamour magazine's
(December 1996) Women of the Year; one of CBS's Women of the
Year
- Campus Climate Working Group is established
to encourage dialogue on campus regarding race relations and
diversity.
- Simmons initiates institutional self-study
and challenges the college to envision its character in the 21st
century.
1997
- Poetry Center is established, bringing
to campus each year an impressive list of poets.
- Ruth Simmons is one of only five college
presidents in the United States to receive $150,000 in discretionary
funds from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation from its
Presidential Leadership Grant program.
- The innovative Kahn Liberal Arts Institute
begins taking shape.
1998
- Simmons is invited to join First Lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton and prominent women academics for a discussion
at the White House on the history and significance of the women's
rights movement.
- Simmons is named by Vanity Fair (November
1998) among "America's Most Influential Women: 200 Legends,
Leaders and Trailblazers."
- Simmons addresses a formal assembly
of the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a lecturer at
the invitation of House Speaker Thomas Finneran.
- Simmons is honored for her contributions
to the cause of equal opportunity by the National Urban League
in New York.
- Smith launches Praxis, a program that
ensures that every student will have access to at least one paid
internship during her undergraduate career.
- 1999
- Picker Program in Engineering and
Technology, the first engineering program at a women's college
in the United States, is launched.
- President Bill Clinton names Simmons
to the Women's Progress Commemoration Commission.
- Smith hosts a national conference
on racial and ethnic diversity, "What's Next? American Pluralism
and the Civic Culture: Challenges and Proposals."
- Simmons pays a visit to Hamilton High
School in Los Angeles as part of a recruiting mission to urban
public high schools.
2000
- A $250 million capital campaign --
at the time of its announcement the most ambitious fund-raising
effort ever undertaken by a liberal arts college -- is announced.
- Construction for Smith's $5.6 million
parking garage and a $35 million renovation/ expansion of the
Fine Arts Center begins.
- Meridians, a peer-reviewed journal
devoted to publishing outstanding scholarly works by and about
women of color, publishes its first issue.
- Preliminary design for a new $20 million
campus center is introduced and reviewed.
- A $5 million renovation of Lyman Conservatory
is planned.
- Brown University announces its new
president: Ruth Simmons.
2001
- Simmons makes a memorable appearance
on a scooter in 2001 senior Rally Day show.
- Smith hosts a national engineering
summit to discuss strategies for encouraging women to pursue
careers in technology.
- Simmons assumes the presidency of
Brown University.
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