 |
| via: http://www.makers.com/ruth-simmons |
Who? Ruth Simmons
Why? Ruth has been an incredible force in breaking the glass ceiling for both women and African Americans in academia. Born to a sharecropper in Texas, Ruth was the youngest of 12 children. She went to college on a full scholarship, which launched her into the world of academics. Prior to her presidency at Brown, Ruth was the president of Smith College, the largest women's college in America, where she helped to start the first engineering program at an all-female college in the United States.
On growing up: "From second grade onward, I was reading all the time. My sisters and brothers used to complain there was something wrong with me...As time went on and I progressed through school that was pretty much the pattern. I was an odd duck...I think I found teachers who supported my oddity and I kept working hard and I managed to rise to the top of my class in high school."
Best advice she received from her mother: "Never consider yourself better than any other human being… Always act as if you have respect for another person even when you disagree with them."
On being a working woman: "I went to my supervisor and I said 'I discovered the salary of my colleague. He is being paid considerably more than I, while I am the senior person of the two. And I only want you to know one thing: I know that this is unfair and I will never feel the same way about working for you again' And that's all I said. So I was always unable to sit and take it, you know? I always spoke up for myself and it worked for me."
