Ruth Simmons to Take on New Role as Senior Adviser to the President of Harvard University

Ruth Simmons, who recently stepped down as president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, will serve as a senior adviser to the president of Harvard University on engagement with historically Black colleges and universities. In this role, which will begin on June 1, Dr. Simmons will advise on efforts to support the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery. Her work will focus on engaging in meaningful and enduring partnerships with the nation’s HBCUs. Dr. Simmons brings a unique perspective to Harvard’s implementation efforts, having led Brown University’s reckoning with its history of slavery and injustice during her 11-year tenure at the helm of the institution. President Simmons formed the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice to help the community think seriously, deeply, and rigorously about their past, a model that has served as a blueprint for institutions like Harvard that have since also begun to address their own injustices. “I am proud to work alongside Harvard to shape a new vision for higher education, one which acknowledges the need for institutions with different histories and missions to share expertise and productively collaborate in the interests of a more equitable society,” Dr....