Quotes from Ruth Simmons

It is not enough to give money for demonstration projects. From the very beginning plans should be made for the scaling-up of successful innovations.

Strategies for research and policy development must simultaneously address people's needs, the capacity of programs to provide good quality of care, and the range of technological options available.

Governments have a legitimate concern with slowing population growth. But often this has been attempted with little concern for the individuals most affected.

In fact it is essential that we strengthen efforts to learn from each other, and stop considering public health in the third world and in the U.S. as separate intellectual and practical endeavors.

The humanities don't belong to some elitist group... knowledge as a whole should be embraced.

I came to understand the value of education, not just to enable me to make a good living, but to enable me to make a worthwhile life.

A longer time perspective is needed because we face a daunting task both in an intellectual and practical sense.

Probably the first time I was a boss was when I was associate dean of the graduate school at the University of Southern California. I was in my early 30s.

There is strong mentoring of women in the academy. Corporations appear more willing to resist affirmative action to advance women, and boards and shareholders are more tolerant of this approach.

I would like to make it possible for many women and men in Latin America to win the lottery and receive the type of reproductive health services they so urgently need.

When ownership is local and national, and various stakeholders work together, program innovations have a greater chance to take root and survive.

Fear of failure is the fuel of achievement. If you weren't afraid to fail, you probably wouldn't be highly motivated to work at the level that most of us have to work at to do well.

I'm the youngest of 12 children. And although I was the youngest, I tried to organize things in my family. When there were disputes, I tried to mediate.