Two Rice University leaders and three alumni have been named among “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2025” by Houston Woman Magazine.
President’s Distinguished Fellow Ruth Simmons and Kelly Fox, executive vice president for operations, finance and support, are the latest honorees. Alumni Joan Neuhaus, Heather Rowell and Stephanie Tsuru also made the list.
Each of the honorees was nominated for inclusion on the “50 Women of Influence” list by areader of Houston Woman Magazine then selected by the staff of the publication.
“Those selected as Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2025 have earned an enviable reputation for their expertise in a particular field or arena,” said Beverly Denver, editor and publisher of Houston Woman Magazine. “The thoughts and actions of these women influence the thoughts and actions of others.”
Ruth Simmons
Simmons, a trailblazing leader in higher education, also serves as adviser to the president of Harvard University on historically Black colleges and universities initiatives. As a President’s Distinguished Fellow at Rice, Simmons works across campus and advises the president’s office while collaborating with faculty and staff to develop programs that prepare future leaders.
She previously served as president of Prairie View A&M University, Smith College and Brown University, where she became the first Black woman to lead an Ivy League institution. A scholar of French literature who is fluent in French, Simmons earned her doctorate in romance languages and literatures from Harvard and has written extensively on French-speaking authors and poets in addition to serving as a French professor.
Simmons is the recipient of many honors including a Fullbright Fellowship, the President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, the Foreign Policy Medal of Honor and the Centennial Medal from Harvard. In 2023 she was named a Jefferson Lecturer, and in 2024 she received the National Humanities Medal from former President Joe Biden. Her memoir, “Up Home,” was a 2023 New York Times bestseller.
Kelly Fox
Fox is a senior higher education administrator with more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership roles at large public and private research universities. As the senior executive overseeing Rice’s Operations, Finance and Support Division, Fox supervises core administrative functions that support the university’s academic, research and residential missions.
Fox oversees finance, human resources, information technology, campus services, safety and facilities. Working with academic leadership and the Rice Board of Trustees, she focuses on strengthening operations, improving service delivery and aligning resources with strategic priorities, including campus development, technology modernization and long-term financial planning.
Before joining Rice, Fox served as executive vice president and chief budget officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she led financial planning and administrative operations. Fox holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Alumni
MBA graduate Neuhaus serves as president of the Marie Bel Fay Fund and a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve. She recently retired as executive director from Kickstart Kids, the nonprofit founded by Chuck Norris to instill character values in underserved and at-risk youth through martial arts. As an officer with the U.S. Naval Reserve, Neuhaus became an anti-terrorism training officer and achieved the rank of lieutenant commander. From 2002 to 2012 Neuhaus was a fellow for homeland security and terroism at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. She currently serves on the Rice Business Board of Advisers.
Houston-based architect Rowell has helped shape how modern architecture engages with the city’s historic and ecological contexts. As founding principal of HR Design Department, Rowell is recognized for a design approach rooted in collaboration, craft and community, values that have guided her professional path and expanded her influence beyond the built environment. She holds a Master of Architecture from Rice, where she has also taught gradual design studios and served on the Rice Design Alliance executive board.
After 25 years in the health care industry, Tsuru pivoted to academia, earning her Master of Liberal Studies from Rice. In 2020, she co-founded SheSpace in Houston’s Lower Heights to dismantle professional silos and create a hub for female founders, freelancers and remote professionals seeking both productivity and community. A graduate of Rice Leadership Accelerator and the American Leadership Forum, Tsuru embodies the spirit of lifelong learning and civic engagement.
For more information on the 50 Most Influential Women of 2025, visit Houston Woman Magazine .