Lauro Cavazos | |
---|---|
4th United States Secretary of Education | |
In office September 20, 1988 – December 12, 1990 | |
President |
Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
Preceded by | William Bennett |
Succeeded by | Lamar Alexander |
10th President of Texas Tech University | |
In office 1980–1988 | |
Preceded by | Lawrence Graves (interim) |
Succeeded by | Robert W. Lawless |
Personal details | |
Born | Lauro Fred Cavazos January 4, 1927 Kingsville, Texas, U.S. |
Died | March 15, 2022 Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 95)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Peggy Ann Murdock [1] |
Children | 10 |
Parents | |
Relatives |
|
Education | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States [2]: 112 |
Branch/service | United States Army [2]: 112 |
Years of service | 1944[2]: 112 | —1946
Lauro Fred Cavazos Jr. (January 4, 1927 – March 15, 2022) was an American educator and politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Education, and was the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Cabinet.
A sixth-generation Texan, Cavazos was born on the King Ranch near Kingsville, Texas, and was the son of Lauro F. Cavazos Sr. and Tomasa (Quintanilla) Cavazos. [1] His father served as foreman of the showcase Santa Gertrudis cattle division. [3]: 19 Through his maternal ancestry, he was a descendant of Texas Revolution heroine Francita Alavez, the " Angel of Goliad". [1]
Cavazos enlisted the United States Army in 1944 [2]: 112 and served state-side in an infantry unit in the waning days of World War II. [1] He was the brother of U.S. Army General Richard E. Cavazos. [4]
Shortly after his discharge from the Army, Cavazos enrolled at Texas College of Arts and Industries (currently Texas A&M University–Kingsville), majoring in journalism. [2]: 113-114 He later transfers to Texas Technological College (currently Texas Tech University) where he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in zoology, [5]: 54 . He later earned a Ph.D. in physiology in 1954 from Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames, Iowa. [6] While in college, he was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi.
Following a stint on the faculties of Tufts University and the Medical College of Virginia, Cavazos served as Dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine from 1975 to 1980. [1] From 1980 to 1988, he served as President of Texas Tech University. [1] He was both the first alumnus and the first Hispanic to serve as Texas Tech president.[ citation needed]
A Democrat, Cavazos served as Secretary of Education from August 1988 to December 1990 during the Republican Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. He was confirmed by the Senate in a 94-0 vote. [1] He resigned in December 1990.
Following his resignation as Secretary of Education, he returned to the faculty of Tufts University where he served as Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine. [1]
In 2006, his alma mater Iowa State University awarded him the Distinguished Achievement Award, their highest honors. [6]
Cavazos was married to the former Peggy Ann Murdock; they had ten children and lived in Massachusetts. He died in Concord, Massachusetts, on March 15, 2022, at the age of 95. [7] [1]
Lauro Cavazos, the United States secretary of education from 1988 to 1990 under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and the nation's first Latino to serve in a cabinet post, died on Tuesday at his home in Concord, Mass. He was 95.
Bobby Cavazos was a brother of former Tech President Lauro Cavazos and four-star U.S. Army Gen. Richard Cavazos. Their father, Lauro Sr., was a King Ranch foreman.
Larry Cavazos ... Kingsville
Lauro F. Cavazos, Jr., a pioneering education administrator who served as the first Mexican-American president of Texas Tech University and the first Hispanic person to hold a U.S. Cabinet position, died Tuesday in Concord, Massachusetts. [...] He was 95 years old.