One Black, one white. In 1995, Ruth J. Simmons, the elder of the two, became the first Black president of Smith, one of the largest of the Seven Sisters colleges. But that wasn’t her last first; in 2001, she left Smith to take the helm at Brown University, making history again by virtue of both her race and her gender — the first Black woman to lead an Ivy League institution, which she did until 2012. In 2007, Drew Gilpin Faust was named the first woman president of Harvard University, a post she held until 2018. As the youngest of 12 children, she had a comparatively easier time because she was the baby of the family.

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Persons: Drew Gilpin, Ruth J, Simmons, —, Smith, Drew Gilpin Faust, She’s, ”, Read, “, ” Simmons Organizations: Seven, Brown University, Ivy League, M University, Harvard University, American Locations: Texas, East Texas