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 The United States secretary of education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities re ...

, and was the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

to serve in the

United States Cabinet The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to th ...

Early life and education

A sixth-generation Texan, he was born on the

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault. The ranch is lo ...

near

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County, Texas, Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 in Texas, U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi, Texas, Corpus Christi and Ha ...

, the son of Lauro F. Cavazos Sr. and the former Tomasa Quintanilla. His father served as foreman of the showcase

Santa Gertrudis cattle The Santa Gertrudis is an American breed of beef cattle. It is a taurine-indicine hybrid breed, descended from both zebu and European cattle. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Texas, and received official recognition in 1940. It h ...

division. Through his maternal ancestry, he was a descendant of Texas Revolution heroine

Francita Alavez Francita Alavez (c. 1816 – c. 1906) was known as the "Angel of Goliad," for saving the lives of Texas prisoners of war in the Goliad Massacre and at Copano and Victoria, Texas, by interceding on their behalf and persuading the help of Mexican ...

, the " Angel of Goliad". He was the brother of U.S. Army General Richard E. Cavazos. He earned

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

degrees in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

, and a Ph.D. in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

in 1954 from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

(ISU) in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary med ...

. While in college, he was a member of

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricult ...

Career

Following a stint on the faculties of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

and the

Medical College of Virginia The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...

, he served as Dean of the

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downtown Boston. The ''T ...

from 1975 to 1980. From 1980 to 1988, he served as President of Texas Tech University. He was both the first alumnus and the first Hispanic to serve as Texas Tech president. A Democrat, Cavazos served as Secretary of Education from August 1988 to December 1990 during the Republican

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...

administrations. He resigned in December 1990. Following his resignation as Secretary of Education, he returned to the faculty of Tufts University where he has served as Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine since then.

Awards

In 2006, his alma mater

awarded him the Distinguished Achievement Award, their highest honors.

Personal life

Cavazos was married to the former Peggy Ann Murdock; they had ten children and lived in Massachusetts. He died in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

, on March 15, 2022, at the age of 95.

References

External links

Lauro F. Cavazos papers (Texas Tech Archives)

Answers.com-Lauro Cavazos

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavazos, Lauro 1927 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American zoologists American politicians of Mexican descent George H. W. Bush administration cabinet members Hispanic and Latino American members of the Cabinet of the United States Iowa State University alumni Massachusetts Democrats People from Kingsville, Texas Politicians from Boston Presidents of Texas Tech University Reagan administration cabinet members Texas Democrats Texas Tech University alumni Tufts University faculty United States Secretaries of Education