Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana, 1952-

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (born Ileana Carmen Ros y Adato, July 15, 1952) is a Cuban-American educator, politician and lobbyist from Miami, Florida, who represented Florida's 27th congressional district from 1989 to 2019. By the end of her tenure, she was the most senior U.S. Representative from Florida. She was Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011–2013. Ros-Lehtinen gave the first Republican response to the State of the Union address in Spanish in 2011, and gave the third in 2014.

Born in Havana, Cuba, her family immigrated to the United States when Ileana was seven years old. After graduating from Southwest Miami High School in 1970, Ros-Lehtinen earned an associate degree from Miami-Dade Community College in 1972, a bachelor’s in higher education from Florida International University (FIU) in 1975, and a master’s in educational leadership from FIU in 1985. In 2004 she earned a PhD in higher education from the University of Miami. She also founded a private elementary school with her parents, working as a teacher and as its chief administrator.

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