Okla. Foundation for Excellence's 21st annual Academic Awards

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 23, 2007

Ruth Simmons, Brown University president and the first African- American and first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League institution, will be the keynote speaker for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence's 21st annual Academic Awards Banquet at 6:30 p.m. May 19 at the Cox Business Services Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

The gala event honors 100 of Oklahoma's top public high school seniors as Academic All-Staters and presents Oklahoma Medal for Excellence Awards to four educators and an alternative education program.

Simmons was sworn in as the 18th president of Brown University in 2001. A French professor before entering university administration, Simmons also holds an appointment as a professor of comparative literature and of Africana studies at Brown. A native of Texas, she graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans before completing her doctoral degree in Romance languages and literatures at Harvard.