Dr. Ruth J. Simmons’ story is full of firsts.
Born to a sharecropping family outside of Houston, Simmons was the first in her family to go to college, to earn a PhD, to become a professor and university president. In 2001, she became the first African American to lead an Ivy League institution as president of Brown University.
On May 2, Simmons will become the first recipient of an award created by The Holdsworth Center to honor her legacy as a groundbreaking leader, a powerful advocate for students and a committed supporter of public education.
Simmons is Holdsworth’s founding board chair and has guided it from a small nonprofit with a handful of staff serving seven school districts to a statewide organization that’s impacted 1,500 leaders in 75 districts through multiple program offerings.
Her support for Holdsworth is rooted in the belief that with strong leaders, teachers and students thrive. And that leadership is not a skill people are born with – it can be taught.
Going forward, the award will be given to a leader – like Simmons – who has made significant contributions to public education, who elevates the people around them and who models a spirit of service by stepping up to lead through times of great challenge.
“It is a privilege to shine a spotlight on leaders like Dr. Simmons, who has such an incredible legacy of lifting up others and championing young people,” said Dr. Lindsay Whorton, president of The Holdsworth Center. “Her life and career are an example to all of us. We hope this award will not only honor her legacy but also inspire the next generation of leaders to make a difference.”
Throughout her life, Simmons has been a powerful advocate for young people.
As president of Smith College, Simmons launched the first engineering program at a woman’s college in the U.S. At Brown, she completed a record-breaking $1.4 billion campaign to enhance academic programs, including a $120 million gift – the largest single donation in the university’s history – devoted chiefly to student scholarships.
Time dubbed her the “Campus Crusader” and a “moral compass of the school she governs” based on her efforts to give more Black students from low-income areas a shot at an Ivy League education.
Five years after retiring, Simmons agreed to take on the presidency of Prairie View A&M University – a historically Black university near Houston – at the urging of state leaders. During her tenure, scholarships increased and a $50 million donation from MacKenzie Scott increased the school’s endowment by 40 percent.
After stepping down from Prairie View last year, Simmons became a President’s Distinguished Fellow at Rice University, which created a $1 million scholarship in her name. She serves on a presidential advisory board of historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Holdsworth’s board of trustees.
Her work to push for excellence and equity on behalf of students lives on through the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University and the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M University.
She has often spoken of her work as paying forward the support she received from public school teachers in rural Grapeland and later in Houston ISD.
In a 2023 interview with Whorton, Simmons said this:
“They were people who did more than work at a job. They were people who did more than settle for what the conditions were at that moment. They were people who looked out for young people who didn’t seem to have a future, and they gave us one.”
Holdsworth will celebrate Simmons on May 2 at the Champions of Hope gala in Houston. The event will shine a spotlight on Texas education leaders making a positive impact on students’ lives and futures.
Visit the event landing page to learn how to attend or sponsor.
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