Daily
Herald
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 67
Friday, September 16, 2011
Since 1891
President Simmons to step down
Iconic 18th president will leave in June
Community reflects on 10 years of leadership
nounced the foundations of what would become the Plan for Academic Enrichment — increasing faculty salaries, bolstering financial aid, hiring 100 new faculty members and instituting need-blind admission beginning with the class of 2007.
decision at the end of the summer. She told a few members of the Corporation — including Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 — of her intention to leave at a meeting Aug. 16. Though Simmons and Tisch considered announcing her resignation at the upcoming meeting of the Corporation Oct. 20-22, they decided the Brown community should learn the news sooner. “This was the soonest we thought we could do it, of course not wanting to disrupt the opening of the semester,” Simmons said. Though the Corporation usually takes at least a year to select a new president, both Simmons and Tisch expressed confidence that there would be sufficient time to find the right successor by spring. A group within the Corporation is responsible for presidential succession plans. Tisch told The Herald in March that he expected Simmons to stay on as president “for the foreseeable future.” Simmons said now is the right time to step down because of the “wonderfully expanded faculty,”
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By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer
By Tony Bakshi News Editor
From students enjoying their first days on College Hill to administrators who spent years working alongside President Ruth Simmons, members of the Brown community expressed admiration, sadness and surprise following her announcement that she will step down at the end of this academic year. Vartan Gregorian, president of the University from 1989 to 1997, said Simmons notified him of her decision Thursday morning. “I told her that she’s done an extraordinary job, and we’re all very grateful,” he said. He praised her success in expanding the faculty and improving financial aid. Ralanda Nelson ’12, president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, noted the overall continued on page 2
Rachel Kaplan / Herald
Simmons hugs a first-year before this year’s welcome address.
President Ruth Simmons, the first black president in Ivy League history, will step down at the end of the academic year, she announced Thursday morning. Simmons, who was also the second female president in the Ivy League, took the helm as the University’s 18th president in 2001. She told The Herald she originally intended to step down after 10 years — about the average for Ivy League presidents — but stayed on an extra year at the behest of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. Simmons said she came to the
A legacy of inspiration and growth By Alex Bell News Editor
When President Ruth Simmons steps down at the close of the academic year, she will leave the University with a legacy of institutional expansion, unprecedented fundraising and a progressive yet competitive vision
for the future of Brown. “In my heart of hearts, I know I’m home,” Simmons said upon her arrival at Brown in 2001. “I know this is it, and all my career has been building toward this.” Simmons began her presidency with the goal of improving the University’s national standing. She an-
Goal to name new president by spring
inside
The University will likely appoint a permanent successor to President Ruth Simmons this spring, Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 said Thursday. Tisch said the search for a successor will incorporate input from the community, honoring the University protocol for selecting a new president. Historically, a committee of Corporation members and a committee of students, faculty and staff have worked together to identify and choose a replacement. The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, will be outlining the search process and “reaching out to the community” in the next few weeks, Tisch said. The search process will likely be detailed before the Oct. 20-22 Corporation meeting. Students not directly involved in the committee will be encour-
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aged to weigh in during the search, Tisch said. Simmons said planning a successful transition has always been important to her. She has been in communication with a Corporation committee to plan her succession “in the best possible way” since before she decided to step down. She added that she will not be directly involved in the search for a new president. But if the Corporation seeks her input, she said she will tell candidates how “absolutely wonderful it is to be at Brown.” . Both Simmons and Tisch said they anticipate a relatively smooth search for a new president and expressed confidence in finding a replacement by this spring. “There will be long lines of people who want to be president of this institution,” Simmons said. Chancellor Emeritus Stephen Robert ’62 P’91, who chaired the
Herald file photo
Like others who have moved onto an unfamiliar campus for the first time, David Dooley received a warm welcome to his new home from President Ruth Simmons. Simmons, he said, was one of the first people to call him when he became president of the University of Rhode Island two years ago. The focus of their conversation — collaboration — was one that Simmons brought to her work both on and off College Hill. “I think she was very serious about engaging the city, about coming to the city and encouraging the institution to think about its identity as partly bound up in
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Simmons smiles during one of six standing ovations she received at her inauguration.
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Good Girls
Prep schoolers grow up in “Tanner Hall” Arts & Culture, 4
By Claire Peracchio City & State Editor
U.S. Who? College rankings “completely invalid” opinions, 7
weather
By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer
A guiding presence beyond College Hill
t o d ay
tomorrow
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