United States 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 Arne Duncan since January 21, 2009
U.S. Department of Education
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	The President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Fifteenth (Presidential Line of Succession)
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Education
Salary	Executive Schedule, level 1
Website	www.ed.gov

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with Education policy.

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."

The current Secretary of Education is Arne Duncan, who has held the office since January 2009.

List of Secretaries of Education

Parties

  Democratic   Republican

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office	President(s)
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 1		Shirley M. Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Jimmy Carter
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 2		Terrel H. Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985	rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Ronald Reagan
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 3		William J. Bennett	North Carolina	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 4		Lauro F. Cavazos	Texas	September 20, 1988	December 12, 1990
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						George H. W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 5		Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	March 22, 1991	January 20, 1993
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 6		Richard W. Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Bill Clinton
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 7		Roderick R. Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005	rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	George W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 8		Margaret Spellings	Texas	January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 9	[[]]	Courtney Stottler	Illinois	January 21, 2009	Incumbent	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Barack Obama

Living former Secretaries of Education

As of October 2014, there are seven living former Secretaries of Education, the oldest being Shirley Hufstedler (1979-1981, born 1925). The most recent Secretary of Education to pass away was Terrel Bell (1981-1985), on June 22, 1996.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Shirley Hufstedler	1979–1981	(1925-08-24) August 24, 1925
William Bennett	1985–1988	(1943-07-31) July 31, 1943
Lauro Cavazos	1988–1990	(1927-01-04) January 4, 1927
Lamar Alexander	1991–1993	(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

External links

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