Ruth Simmons, the outgoing president of Brown University, had a quadrangle on the Brown campus named in her honor. The Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle is part of the university’s original 1770 campus and is the only tract of land on the original campus that is named after an individual.
Brown Chancellor Thomas J. Tisch stated, “This space represents Brown in our breadth and at our very best. There is no more fitting location for the Corporation to come together to say how deeply grateful we are for all that Ruth has done for us.”
Simmons was also granted the title of president emerita. She will remain on the Brown faculty as a professor of comparative literature and a professor of Africana studies.
Dr. Simmons has been president of Brown since 2001. Previously, she was president of Smith College and provost at Princeton University and Spelman College. She is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans and holds a Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures from Harvard University.