United States Secretary of Education
The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary advises the president of the United States, and the federal government, on federal policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States. As a member of the president's Cabinet, the secretary is fifteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.
United States Secretary of Education | |
---|---|
Seal of the Department of Education | |
Flag of the Secretary of Education | |
United States Department of Education | |
Style | Madam Secretary |
Reports to | President of the United States |
Seat | Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Washington, D.C. |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Constituting instrument | 20 U.S.C. § 3411 |
Formation | November 30, 1979 |
First holder | Shirley Hufstedler |
Succession | Sixteenth[1] |
Deputy | Deputy Secretary of Education |
Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
Website | www2 |
Education in the United States |
---|
|
|
The current, and 11th, secretary of education is Betsy DeVos, who was nominated by President Donald Trump and approved by the United States Senate on February 7, 2017.
Function
The United States secretary of education is a member of the president's Cabinet and is the fifteenth in the United States presidential line of succession.[2] This secretary deals with federal influence over education policy, and heads the United States Department of Education.[3]
The secretary is advised by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, an advisory committee, on "matters related to accreditation and to the eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher education."[4]
List of secretaries
Prior to the creation of the Department of Education in 1979, Education was part of the ambit of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
- Parties
- Status
List of secretaries of health, education, and welfare
No. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oveta Culp Hobby | Texas | April 11, 1953 | July 31, 1955 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||
– | Mckkee Williams | July 31, 1955 | August 2, 1955 | ||||
2 | Marion B. Folsom | New York | August 2, 1955 | July 31, 1958 | |||
3 | Arthur S. Flemming | Ohio | August 1, 1958 | January 19, 1961 | |||
4 | Abraham A. Ribicoff | Connecticut | January 21, 1961 | July 13, 1962 | John F. Kennedy | ||
– | Abraham A. Williams | Ohio | July 13, 1962 | July 31, 1962 | |||
5 | Anthony J. Celebrezze | July 31, 1962 | August 17, 1965 | ||||
Lyndon B. Johnson | |||||||
6 | John W. Gardner | California | August 18, 1965 | March 1, 1968 | |||
7 | Wilbur J. Cohen | Michigan | May 16, 1968 | January 20, 1969 | |||
8 | Robert H. Finch | California | January 21, 1969 | June 23, 1970 | Richard Nixon | ||
9 | Elliot L. Richardson | Massachusetts | June 24, 1970 | January 29, 1973 | |||
– | Jimme Keen | Louisiana | January 29, 1973 | February 12, 1973 | |||
10 | Caspar W. Weinberger | California | February 12, 1973 | August 8, 1975 | |||
Gerald Ford | |||||||
11 | F. David Mathews | Alabama | August 8, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | |||
12 | Joseph A. Califano Jr. | District of Columbia | January 25, 1977 | August 3, 1979 | Jimmy Carter | ||
13 | Patricia Roberts Harris | August 3, 1979 | May 4, 1980[5] |
List of secretaries of education
No. | Portrait | name | State of Residence | Took Office | Left Office | President | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shirley Hufstedler | California | November 30, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | ||
2 | Terrel Bell | Utah | January 22, 1981 | January 20, 1985 | Ronald Reagan | ||
William Bennett | New York | February 6, 1985 | September 20, 1988 | ||||
3 | |||||||
4 | Lauro Cavazos | Texas | September 20, 1988 | December 12, 1990 | |||
George H. W. Bush | |||||||
– | Ted Sanders Acting |
Illinois | December 12, 1990 | March 22, 1991 | |||
5 | Lamar Alexander | Tennessee | March 22, 1991 | January 20, 1993 | |||
6 | Richard Riley | South Carolina | January 21, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | Bill Clinton | ||
7 | Rod Paige | Texas | January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2005 | George W. Bush | ||
8 | Margaret Spellings | January 20, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | ||||
9 | Arne Duncan[6] | Illinois | January 21, 2009 | January 1, 2016 | Barack Obama | ||
10 | John King Jr.[6] | New York | January 1, 2016 | March 14, 2016 | |||
March 14, 2016 | January 20, 2017 | ||||||
– | Phil Rosenfelt Acting |
Virginia | January 20, 2017 | February 7, 2017 | Donald Trump | ||
11 | Betsy DeVos | Michigan | February 7, 2017 | Incumbent |
Living former secretaries
As of August 2020, there are eight living former secretaries of education (with all secretaries that have served since 1985 still living), the oldest being Lauro Cavazos (served 1988–1990, born 1927). The most recent secretary of Education to die was Shirley Hufstedler (served 1979–1981, born 1925) on March 30, 2016. The most recently serving secretary to die was Terrel Bell (served 1981–1985, born 1921) on June 22, 1996.
Name | Term | Date of birth (and age) |
---|---|---|
William Bennett | 1985–1988 | July 31, 1943 |
Lauro Cavazos | 1988–1990 | January 4, 1927 |
Lamar Alexander | 1990-1993 | July 6, 1940 |
Richard Riley | 1993–2001 | January 2, 1933 |
Rod Paige | 2001–2005 | June 17, 1933 |
Margaret Spellings | 2005–2009 | November 30, 1957 |
Arne Duncan[6] | 2009–2015 | November 6, 1964 |
John King Jr. | 2016–2017 | 1975 (age 44–45) |
References
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19
- Wilson, Reid (October 20, 2013). "The Presidential order of succession". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- "US Department of Education Principal Office Functional Statements". United States Department of Education. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- NACIQI Staff (November 23, 2016). "Welcome". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). Retrieved November 23, 2016.
- Harris was Secretary on May 4, 1980, when the office changed names from Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to Secretary of Health and Human Services. Because the department merely changed names, she did not need to be confirmed again, and her term continued uninterrupted.
- Eilperin, Juliet; Layton, Lyndsey; Brown, Emma (October 2, 2015). "U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to step down at end of year". Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
External links
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy |
Order of Precedence of the United States as Secretary of Education |
Succeeded by Robert Wilkie as Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
U.S. presidential line of succession | ||
Preceded by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry |
15th in line | Succeeded by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie |