Media contact: Cecelia Fielding, (801) 422-4377
Editors: A photograph of Secretary Paige is available for downloading at http://www.byu.edu/news.
U.S. Secretary of Education to speak at BYU Commencement
PROVO, Utah (April 10, 2002) - U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige will be the featured speaker at April Commencement Exercises Thursday (April 25) at 4 p.m. in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University.
Paige was confirmed by the United States Senate as the 7th Secretary of Education on Jan. 20, 2001, following the inauguration of President George W. Bush.
Born in Monticello, Miss., Secretary Paige is the son of public school educators. He earned a bachelor's degree from Jackson State University in Mississippi and a master's degree and a doctorate from Indiana University.
Although Secretary Paige first distinguished himself coaching college-level athletics, he always has been committed to public education and the preparation of teachers to excel in their profession. He served for a decade as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University. He also established the university's Center for Excellence in Urban Education, a research facility that concentrates on issues related to instruction and management in urban school systems.
As a trustee and an officer of the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) from 1989 to 1994, Secretary Paige coauthored the board's "A Declaration of Beliefs and Visions," a statement of purpose and goals for the school district that called for fundamental reform through decentralization, a focus on instruction, accountability at all levels, and development of a core curriculum.
Secretary Paige became the superintendent of schools of HISD in 1994. As superintendent, Secretary Paige created the Peer Examination, Evaluation, and Redesign (PEER) program, which solicits recommendations from business and community professionals for strengthening school support services and programs. He also launched a system of charter schools that have broad authority in decisions regarding staffing, textbooks, and materials.
Secretary Paige has been active on the Education Commission of the States as well as the Council of the Great City Schools, which bestowed on him its Richard R. Green Award as the outstanding urban educator of 1999.
In 2000 Secretary Paige received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr., Prize in Education for his extraordinary commitment to the improvement of education, as well as the National Association of Black School Educators' Superintendent of the Year award.
In 2001, he was named the National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.
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