Nomination of Lauro F. Cavazos To Be Secretary of Education

The President today announced his intention to nominate Lauro F. Cavazos to be Secretary of Education. He will succeed William J. Bennett.

Since 1980 Dr. Cavazos has served as president of Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the first Texas Tech graduate and first Hispanic to hold these posts. He is also professor of anatomy at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and professor of biological sciences at Texas Tech University. Dr. Cavazos currently chairs the dropout task force for the Lubbock Independent School District. From 1964 to 1980, he was a member of the faculty of Tufts University School of Medicine as professor of anatomy and was named its dean in 1975. From 1954 to 1964, he taught at the Medical College of Virginia, where he held the rank of associate professor of anatomy. From 1949 to 1951, Dr. Cavazos taught at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Cavazos graduated from Texas Tech University (B.A., 1949; M.A., 1951) and Iowa State University (Ph.D., 1954). He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1946. A sixth-generation Texan, Dr. Cavazos was born in 1927. He is married to the former Peggy Murdock. They have 10 children and reside in Lubbock, TX.