Higher education leader Ruth J. Simmons will deliver the school’s 2023 Convocation address on May 24, the Harvard Graduate School of Education announced in a press release last month.
Simmons, the president of Prairie View A&M University and president emerita of Brown University and Smith College, became the first Black president of an Ivy League university when she was appointed to lead Brown in 2001.
“My own path was shaped by exceptional educators who helped me envision a life of achievement that most thought at the time an improbable quest,” Simmons said in the press release. “It is an honor to be invited to address those who inspire us to embrace the ideal of a future that is better than the present. Such visionaries are urgently needed today.”
Beginning June 1, Simmons will serve as senior adviser to the president of Harvard University on partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities, taking on the role for the last month of University President Lawrence S. Bacow’s tenure and continuing into President-elect Claudine Gay’s term.
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