Former Ivy League president leading Prairie View A&M

Melanie Lawson Image
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Prairie View A&M introduces a new leader
Dr. Ruth Simmons talks about what led her to accept her new role as the president of Prairie View A&M University.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Dr. Ruth Simmons, the new president of Prairie View A&M University, explains why she turned down other offers to accept the challenge to lead the school, one of the nation's oldest historically black colleges.

Dr. Simmons is a native Texan and made history as the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution, Brown University. She also led Smith College, the nation's largest women's university and served stints at Spelman College and Princeton University.

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