Lauro Cavazos

Who is Lauro Cavazos?

Lauro Fred Cavazos Jr. is a U.S. educator and politician. He served as Secretary of Education, and was the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Cabinet.

A sixth-generation Texan, he was born on the King Ranch near Kingsville, Texas, where his father served as foreman of the showcase Santa Gertrudis Division. He was the son of Lauro F. Cavazos Sr. and Tomasa Quintanilla Cavazos. Through his maternal ancestry, he is a descendant of Texas Revolution heroine Francita Alavez, the "Angel of Goliad".

He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in zoology from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in physiology from Iowa State University. 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. From 1975 to 1980, he served as Dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine. 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 and George H. W. Bush administrations.