Terrel Bell

Terrel Howard Bell ( born November 11, 1921 in Lava Hot Springs, Bannock County, Idaho, † 22 June 1996 Salt Lake City ) was an American educationalist and politician, who served under President Ronald Reagan as Minister of Education of the United States.

Life and career

Terrel Bell, who lost eight years old when his father completed his education from the Normal School of Albion. Later he ( School superintendent ) as a school board in Idaho and Wyoming operate. During World War II he served with the rank of Sergeant in the Marines.

After his return to the United States in 1946, he earned a bachelor's degree at Southern Idaho College of Education in Albion. Subsequently he worked as a high school teacher and as a bus driver. In 1954, he graduated with a Master from the University of Idaho, 1961 Ph.D. in Education at the University of Utah. From 1962 to 1963 he was a lecturer and head of the faculty of education at Utah State University.

1970 Bell was appointed by U.S. President Richard Nixon appointed deputy commissioner for education systems in the Office of Education, which was still a division of the Health, Education and Welfare Ministry at this time. After two years he moved on as acting head of agency, before it was in 1974 officially appointed to this office. In 1976 he became Commissioner of Higher Education in the state government of Utah.

Minister under Reagan

After the Republican victory in the 1980 presidential election Terrel Bell was the last prime minister, who was appointed to the Cabinet Reagan. Since Ronald Reagan had declared to abolish the first launched by his predecessor Jimmy Carter Ministry of Education again, it was expected that it would be Bell's main task, carry out this mandate. However, he tried to convince the President of the need for the Authority.

Bell had an outstanding reputation in educator circles and enjoyed recognition for his professional advancement of teachers for government member. In the cabinet he possessed as a man who came from a humble background, a special position compared with its numerous wealthy counterparts. His move from Utah to Washington, he had taken the wheel of the van itself.

In 1981, Bell the President to set up a commission to investigate the quality of education. The resulting report, which appeared in 1983 under the title A Nation at Risk, gave the desired educational reform the necessary thrust.

Since President Reagan, despite the successes of the Ministry continues to circumcise its budget, Terrel Bell filed in January 1985 in his resignation. He returned to Utah, where he again worked as a professor at the University of Utah. In 1988, he published his memoirs under the title The Thirteenth Man: A Reagan Cabinet Memoir.