Cavazos, << kuh VAH sohs, >> Lauro Fred (1927-2022), served as United States secretary of education from 1988 to 1990. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and remained in office under President George H. W. Bush, until Dec. 15, 1990. Cavazos, a Mexican American, became the first Hispanic American to hold a U.S. Cabinet post. Before his appointment, he was president of Texas Tech University.
Cavazos was born on Jan. 4, 1927, near Kingsville, Texas. He attended Texas Tech, where he received a B.A. degree in 1949 and an M.A. degree in 1951. In 1954, Cavazos earned a Ph.D. degree in physiology from Iowa State University. From 1954 to 1964, Cavazos taught anatomy at the Medical College of Virginia. He taught at the Tufts University School of Medicine from 1964 to 1980 and served as its dean from 1975 to 1980. Cavazos became president of Texas Tech in 1980. He wrote numerous books on the medical sciences as well as several on medical education. Cavazos died on March 15, 2022.
