United States Secretary of Education

"Secretary of education" redirects here. For other uses, see Secretary of Education.

Secretary of Education of the United States of America
Seal of the Department of Education
Flag of the Secretary of Education
Incumbent Betsy DeVos since February 7, 2017
United States Department of Education
Style	Madam Secretary
Reports to	The President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979 (1979-11-30)
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Sixteenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Education
Salary	Executive Schedule, level 1
Website	www.ed.gov

Education in the United States
By state + insular areas By subject area History of Issues: Finance – Law – Literacy – Reform Levels: Primary – Secondary – Higher Organizations
Education portal United States portal

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The Secretary advises the President on federal policies, programs, and activities related to education in the United States. As a member of the President's Executive Cabinet, this Secretary is fifteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.

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. This Secretary deals with federal influence over education policy, and heads the U.S. Department of Education.

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."

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

  Democratic   Republican

Status

  Denotes an Acting Secretary of Education

List of Secretaries of Health, Education, and Welfare

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President
1		Oveta Culp Hobby	Texas	April 11, 1953	July 31, 1955		Dwight D. Eisenhower
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
5		Anthony J. Celebrezze	Ohio	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
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	District of Columbia	August 3, 1979	May 4, 1980

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	Texas	January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009
9		Arne Duncan	Illinois	January 21, 2009	January 1, 2016		Barack Obama
10		John King Jr.	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

See also: List of living former members of the United States Cabinet

As of October 2017, there are eight living former Secretaries of Education, 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	(1943-07-31) July 31, 1943
Lauro Cavazos	1988–1990	(1927-01-04) January 4, 1927
Lamar Alexander	1990-1993	(1940-07-06) July 6, 1940
Richard Riley	1993–2001	(1933-01-02) January 2, 1933
Rod Paige	2001–2005	(1933-06-17) June 17, 1933
Margaret Spellings	2005–2009	(1957-11-30) November 30, 1957
Arne Duncan	2009–2015	(1964-11-06) November 6, 1964
John King Jr.	2016–2017	1975 (age 41–42)

External links

• "ED Staff Organization: Management Offices". U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved April 11, 2007.  – Includes the Secretary of Education

Current 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 David Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Current U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry	15th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin