Robert Anacletus Underwood (born July 13, 1948) is an American politician and educator who served as the

delegate Delegate or delegates may refer to: * Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia * Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique * Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations * Delegate (United S ...

from

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1993 to 2003 as a member of the Democratic Party. He subsequently served as the president of the

University of Guam University of Guam () (U.O.G.) is a public university, public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level and ele ...

from 2008 to 2018 and is currently a co-chair of the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...

China-

Freely Associated States The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (F ...

Senior Study Group.

Early life

Underwood was born in

Tamuning Tamuning, also known as Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon (), is a village located on the western shore of the United States territory of Guam. The village of Tamuning is the economic center of Guam, containing tourist center Tumon, Harmon Industrial Park, ...

, Guam. He is the son of John Joseph Underwood (1911–1986) and Esther Flores Taitano (1913–2005). His paternal grandparents were James Holland Underwood and Ana Pangelinan Martinez, from Tamuning, Guam, and his maternal grandparents were Juan San Nicolas Taitano and Rosario Sablan Flores, who resided in

Dededo, Guam Dededo (; Spanish: ) is the most populated village in the United States territory of Guam. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dededo's population was just under 45,000 in 2020. The village is located on the coral plateau of Northern Guam. The g ...

. Underwood graduated from Guam's John F. Kennedy High School in 1965, and attended

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. He became a high school teacher on the American mainland, and he then served as an instructor at the

from 1976 to 1983. Underwood was director of bilingual education assistance for

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

until 1988 and Academic Vice President of the University of Guam until 1992. In 2009, he married former

Guam Department of Education The Guam Department of Education (GDOE), formerly the Guam Public School System, is a school district that serves the United States territory of Guam. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities a ...

superintendent Dr. Nerissa Bretania Underwood during an intimate morning ceremony at the

Superior Court of Guam The Supreme Court of Guam is the highest judicial body of the Territories of the United States, United States territory of Guam. The Court hears all appeals from the Superior Court of Guam and exercises original jurisdiction only in cases where a ...

. His wife is a former senator in

Guam Legislature The Legislature of Guam () is the law-making body for the United States territory of Guam. The unicameral legislative branch consists of fifteen senators, each serving for a two-year term. All members of the legislature are elected at-large with ...

. Underwood is a regular opinion contributor in the ''Pacific Daily News''.

Guam Delegate (1993–2003)

Underwood served as the Guam Delegate to the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in the 103rd through 107th Congresses from January 3, 1993 to January 3, 2003 during which he sponsored major legislation for Guam, played an active role in

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

authorization bills and was an advocate for political development for insular areas and the extension of educational and social opportunities for Asian Americans and

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subreg ...

. During his tenure in congress, he became a senior member of both the House Armed Services and Resources committees. He emphasized the importance of Guam and the Asian Pacific region in national strategic policy and worked to enhance the benefits of military personnel, especially those in guard and reserve units. He passed major legislation for Guam that resolved long standing land disputes with the federal government, brought recognition to Guam's World War II generation and their case for war claims and enhanced local autonomy. Additionally, he built a successful record of bringing in federal funds for military construction, assistance to the government of Guam due to in-migration from surrounding islands and for several education programs.Underwood ensured Guam's inclusion in major legislation such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that brought domestic telephone rates to Pacific territories, the

State Children's Health Insurance Program The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...

and the bill that established the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

. He brought recognition to Guam's unique people by lifting the ban on betel nut (pugua) importation into the US Customs Zone, inclusion in the

National World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists o ...

, the creation of

Chamorro Standard Time The Chamorro Time Zone, formerly the Guam Time Zone, is a United States time zone which observes standard time ten hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC+10:00). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 150th m ...

(CST) and participation in national commemorative events. As a member of the Hispanic and

Asian Pacific American Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian ...

Caucuses, he spoke out for the protection of immigrant rights, educational opportunities and sensitivity to language issues. As chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in the 106th Congress, he led the effort to include Asian Pacific Americans in scholarship programs, was instrumental in the development of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, spoke out against racial profiling and for including Pacific Islanders as a demographic category in federal programs.

2002 gubernatorial campaign

Underwood declared his candidacy for the 2002 gubernatorial election and was a candidate in the November 2002 General election. His running mate for Lt. Governor was Senator Thomas "Tom" Ada. Underwood was defeated by

Felix Perez Camacho Felix James Pérez Camacho (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Guam from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party of Guam, he had previously served as a six-term senator in ...

in the general election on November 3, 2002.

2006 gubernatorial campaign

Underwood ran again as a Democrat for

Governor of Guam The governor of Guam ( / ) is the head of government of Guam and the commander-in-chief of the Guam National Guard, whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Island (formerly the State of the Territory) addresses to t ...

in 2006, with running mate

Frank Aguon Frank Blas Aguon Jr. (born June 21, 1966) is a Guamanian politician and army lieutenant. A Democrat, he served in the Legislature of Guam from 1997 to 2007, 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2019. He is a former Vice-Speaker from 2003 to 2005. Senat ...

for Lieutenant Governor. The Underwood-Aguon team faced former governor

Carl Gutierrez Carl Tommy Cruz Gutierrez (born October 15, 1941) is an American (U.S. citizen) politician who was the sixth governor of Guam, serving two four-year terms with Lieutenant Governor Madeleine Bordallo from January 2, 1995, to January 6, 2003. Guti ...

and Senator

Benjamin Cruz Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz (born March 3, 1951) is a Chamorro people, Chamorro lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the Speaker of the 34th Guam Legislature from 2017 to 2018 and as Vice Speaker from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Dem ...

. He defeated his main Democratic rival, for the Gutierrez-Cruz team in the primary election on September 2, 2006. But on November 7, 2006 he was defeated during the general elections when incumbent Republican Governor Felix Perez Camacho, along with his new running mate Lt. Governor-elect Dr. Michael Cruz, was reelected with 50% to 48%.

UOG president (2008–2018)

In 2008, Underwood was selected to begin a 5-year term as the tenth president of the

and has continued to hold this position as of 2016. In June 2018, Underwood retired as President of the University of Guam and was succeeded by Thomas W. Krise.

2020 congressional election

On June 30, 2020, Underwood announced he was running for Guam Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent

Michael San Nicolas Michael Franklin Quitugua San Nicolas (born January 30, 1981) is a Guamanian Democratic Party politician, who served as the delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for from 2019 to 2023. San Nicolas was elected by his colleagues in the 11 ...

. In 2020, San Nicolas was re-elected. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Guam cancelled party primaries and all qualified candidates appeared on the November 3 general election ballot. San Nicolas came in first in a three-way race against Underwood and Republican territorial senator Wil Castro, but did not win an outright majority. In the November 17 runoff, San Nicolas defeated Underwood earning more than 59% of the vote.

Electoral history

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Robert A. 1948 births 21st-century Guamanian politicians California State University, Los Angeles alumni Chamorro people Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Guam Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Guam Guamanian Democrats Guamanian people of Spanish descent Living people Members of the United States House of Representatives of Asian descent People from Tamuning, Guam Presidents of the University of Guam USC Rossier School of Education alumni Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives