Ruth Jean Simmons (born July 3, 1945) is the 18th and current president of Brown University, the first black (black people) president (Ivy League Presidents) of an Ivy League institution. Simmons was elected Browns first woman president in November 2000. She is the first Brown president from Texas. Simmons assumed office in fall of 2001. Simmons holds appointments as a professor in the Departments of Comparative Literature and Africana Studies. In 2002, Newsweek selected her as a Ms. Woman of the Year, while in 2001, Time (Time (magazine)) named her as Americas best college president.

According to a March 2009 poll by The Brown Daily Herald, Simmons enjoys a more than 80% approval rating among Brown undergraduates.

Simmons salary is $775,715.

Simmons was born in Grapeland (Grapeland, Texas), Texas, the last of 12 children. She earned her bachelors degree from Dillard University in New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana), Louisiana in 1967 and earned her masters and doctorate in Romance literature (Romance languages) from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973, respectively. Her first positions in academic administration were at the University of Southern California, starting in 1979 as assistant dean of graduate studies, and then as associate dean of graduate studies. She was a professor of Romance languages and became a dean at Princeton University from 1983 to 1990. She served as provost at Spelman College from 1990 to 1992.