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If you are the kind of person who listens to conservative advice, you may do okay in life, but you probably won't ever be a fantastic leader. You have to take risks, and you also have to go against conventional wisdom, because conventional wisdom doesn't make for startling advances in society.

Ruth Simmons

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Ruth Simmons
Age: 79
Born: 1945
Born: July 3
Academic Administrator
University Professor
University Teacher
Grapeland
Texas
Ruth J. Simmons
Ruth Jean Stubblefield
Make
Doesn
Conservative
Life
Also
Okay
May
Advice
Startling
Persons
Risk
Listens
Person
Leader
Advances
Ever
Probably
Risks
Take
Wisdom
Conventional
Kind
Society
Fantastic

More quotes by Ruth Simmons

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I was intent on doing something productive and on being everything my parents taught me to be. Their values were clear: do good work don't ever get too big for your breeches always be an authentic person don't worry too much about being famous and rich because that doesn't amount to too much.
Ruth Simmons
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In the late 60s, 70s and possibly early 80s, social scientists were interested in researching the diffusion of innovation and studying the link between applied research and policy and program development. Recently there has been less interest in these issues and we feel that this interest must be rekindled.
Ruth Simmons
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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.
Ruth Simmons
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International experts from technical assistance agencies or universities can make important contributions, but they certainly don't have all the answers. When ownership is local and national, and various stakeholders work together, program innovations have a greater chance to take root and survive.
Ruth Simmons
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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.
Ruth Simmons
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Bureaucratic systems are not set up to be what we refer to as human service organizations. They were established to collect revenue and maintain law and order and they used a law and order approach in providing family planning services.
Ruth Simmons
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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.
Ruth Simmons
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The humanities don't belong to some elitist group... knowledge as a whole should be embraced.
Ruth Simmons
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If we succeed in learning more about how to expand program innovations from pilot projects so that they have broader program impact, this should be very relevant for public health initiatives in Michigan and elsewhere in the US.
Ruth Simmons
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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.
Ruth Simmons
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Major changes become possible if you work in a participatory manner, listen to local people, diagnose what the problems are, provide training and identify where there are opportunities for mobilizing local resources to take action.
Ruth Simmons
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Our practical purpose is to facilitate expansion of service innovations on a larger scale to improve access to, and the quality of reproductive health care. We are very grateful to have received support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to continue our work.
Ruth Simmons
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the most important thing one can do for children is not accept the limitations they are so willing to impose on themselves.
Ruth Simmons
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Nobody had counseled women to expect the changes in bleeding patterns which are typically associated with IUD use, and they received no support from the health clinics with their problems. Because in traditional Hindu culture menstruation is associated with a variety of social taboos, prolonged menstrual bleeding produced conflicts within families.
Ruth Simmons
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It's very important in a leadership role not to place your ego at the foreground and not to judge everything in relationship to how your ego is fed.
Ruth Simmons
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High level policy makers and program managers do not normally listen to the voices of local people, local providers and local program managers when they make decisions about contraceptive introduction or other aspects of program development in reproductive health.
Ruth Simmons
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When ownership is local and national, and various stakeholders work together, program innovations have a greater chance to take root and survive.
Ruth Simmons
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If policy makers and program managers participate in an interdisciplinary assessment team, make informal visits to local families and have in-depth conversations with local providers and health authorities, the real needs and complex challenges of organizing good reproductive health services become apparent.
Ruth Simmons
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Governments have a legitimate concern with slowing population growth. But often this has been attempted with little concern for the individuals most affected.
Ruth Simmons
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We are trying to discover where this approach could have the greatest possibility of large-scale impact. We have to choose wisely and see where there is greatest interest and need.
Ruth Simmons