After six years at Smith College, President Ruth Simmons left the Northampton, Mass., school in 2001 to assume the top spot at Brown. After six years on College Hill, will she be tempted to leave for the same position at Harvard University?
Simmons' refusal to comment about her interest in the presidency of Harvard, which just launched its search to find a successor to current President Lawrence Summers, has led some students at Brown to fear Simmons may be eyeing the Harvard position. This is especially so in light of the fact that other candidates mentioned as strong contenders for the Harvard job - including the presidents of three other Ivy League schools - have ruled themselves out for the position.
But several leaders in the Brown community are not concerned about the president's silence.
Wendy Strothman '72, who said she sees Simmons up close as secretary of the Brown Corporation, said she and other Corporation members have no worries about Simmons' commitment to her job.
"My assumption is that she's extremely happy ... at Brown," Strothman said. "From what I observe on phone calls and with her at meetings is that she seems utterly engaged in what she's doing at Brown."
Professor of Geological Sciences James Head Ph.D. '69 said he hasn't heard any faculty concern about Simmons' lack of comment, and he isn't concerned himself. Though he said "Harvard would be stupid not to be interested in" Simmons, Head believes she is committed to Brown.
"It's not unreasonable for someone to have no comment on these things," he said. "I think it's a personal choice."
Stephen Nelson, an author who studies college presidents, said Simmons seems to be a private person and believes Simmons' silence is a matter of personal preference.
"My guess is that this is, stylistically, her way," he said. "I think she is really a 'less said, the better off' kind of person. ... Her 'no comment' doesn't tell us anything, one way or the other."
Nelson is an associate professor of educational leadership at Bridgewater State College and author of a book about college presidents. He is also affiliated with Brown's Leadership Alliance.
Nelson said he believes Simmons is "taking the high road" with her lack of comment on her interest in Harvard. He said Simmons has a lot of ties to Harvard and does not want to hurt anyone on the Harvard Corporation, the university's governing body that will select the school's next president. If everyone withdraws from contention for the spot, Nelson said, it might appear as if Harvard had to resort to its sixth or seventh choice when the search committee finally selects its president. Thus, Simmons' silence may be out of respect for Harvard, where she received her Ph.D. in romance languages.
The withdrawal of other candidates for the Harvard job has put some peer pressure on her, Nelson added, but he said other candidates who have explicitly denied interest in the job faced altogether different circumstances than those confronting Simmons.
Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow have told the student newspapers at their universities that they are not interested in the Harvard presidency. Nannerl Keohane, the former president of Wellesley College and Duke University, said in a March 15 Boston Globe article that she too is not interested in the position.
But Gutmann is relatively new to Penn, Bollinger was apparently the runner-up to Summers during the previous Harvard presidential search and Keohane considers herself in retirement, Nelson said.
Neel Shah '04 M.D. '08, president of the Brown Medical School Senate, echoed Nelson's words, saying the other candidates had "nothing to lose" by declaring their commitment to their universities. He said he also believes Simmons' silence reflects professional courtesy and is not concerned about her lack of comment. He added he does not think Harvard will tap Simmons.
Another student leader, Undergraduate Council of Students President Sarah Saxton-Frump '07, said some students have approached her about the prospect of Simmons leaving, though she added she believes the level of concern is fairly low.
"There's definitely been some curiosity," Saxton-Frump said. "But there's been no panic."
Saxton-Frump said students would be "heartbroken" if the president left for Harvard because so many students believe that "she is ours."
"She's great, she's well-spoken, she's warm, she cares about the school," Saxton-Frump said. "So many people identify her with the school, so many would be heartbroken" if she left.
At least one student leader is concerned that Simmons has her eyes set on the Cambridge, Mass., university.
"It's scary, quite frankly," said Ari Savitzky '06, co-president of the senior class. "It's pretty clear that our campus is in mad love with Ruth and how she has done as president."
Of her silence, Savitzky said: "It seems as if she's not saying (anything) for a reason; otherwise, why wouldn't she come out and say something?"
Of course, there is the possibility that Simmons won't even be chosen by the Harvard Corporation. Though she appears to be a top candidate for the job, according to several academics and media reports, she may face competition from two Harvard insiders: Elena Kagan, dean of the university's law school, and Drew Faust, dean of the university's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Nelson said the biggest factor that will go against Simmons is her age. She will be 61 in July.
"If Simmons were 10 years younger, I'd say she'd be at Harvard tomorrow," Nelson told The Herald shortly after Summers resigned in February.
