Ruth Simmons named 2023 Jefferson lecturer

Ruth J. Simmons will deliver the 2023 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. The National Endowment for the Humanities’ Jefferson Lecture is the highest honor the federal government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.

Simmons is currently president emerita of three colleges: Smith College, Brown University and Prairie View A&M University. Simmons was a French professor before becoming an administrator.

Her lecture will be called “Facing History to Find a Better Future.”