Jan. 31, 2018

Magazine names Juanita Simmons among ’50 Missourians’ to know

Dr. Juanita Simmons

Dr. Juanita Simmons, the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Northwest Missouri State University, is featured this month in Ingram’s business magazine as one of “50 Missourians You Should Know.”

The magazine’s profile of Simmons reflects on her growing up during the era of Jim Crow-style segregation in Wichita Falls, Texas, and her career as an educator. “We must produce students with degrees, but also graduates who are armed with this comfort with diversity and can take that into the workplace,” she says in the article.

Simmons joined the Northwest staff in 2016 after 13 years as a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she taught educational leadership and policy analysis. Previously, she served in administrative roles in the Austin and Dallas, Texas, independent school districts. She also was a high school English, journalism and humanities teacher in the Dallas Independent School District.

She has a Ph.D. and master’s degree, both in educational administration from the University of Texas-Austin. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and speech from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls.

Other individuals featured in this year’s list include business leaders, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, lawyers, clergymen and farmers.

Northwest staff members and alumni featured by Ingram’s in recent years as “50 Missourians You Should Know” have included Larry Lee, retired director of Northwest’s Dean L Hubbard Center for Innovation, and University Police Chief Clarence Green.

To read the Ingram’s feature and view the complete list of “50 Missourians You Should Know,” click here.