Over the past three decades, aside from a five-year retirement starting in 2012, Simmons has held three president roles. She was the first-ever African American leader at Smith College and at Brown University, where she also became the first to hold the position at an Ivy League school. She took a historic journey to the top of higher ed, rising from a humble beginning as the daughter of sharecroppers in Texas to attend Dillard University and then getting both a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University. She rose up the ranks at several other institutions – serving in capacities from faculty member to provost – at the University of New Orleans, California State University-Northridge, the University of Southern California, Princeton University and Spelman College before landing at Brown.
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