Paige, Rod, 1933-

<p>Roderick Raynor Paige (born June 17, 1933) served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superintendent to be the first African American to serve as the U.S. education chief.</p>

<p>Paige was sitting with George W. Bush at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when Bush received the news that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center in the September 11, 2001 attacks.</p>

<p>On November 15, 2004, Paige announced his resignation after overseeing the President's education agenda for four years. White House domestic policy adviser Margaret Spellings was nominated as his successor. The U.S. Senate confirmed her on January 20, 2005 after Bush's inauguration for a second term.</p>

<p>Paige served as interim president of his alma mater, Jackson State University, from November 2016 to June 2017.</p>

<p>When Rod Paige became the first African American secretary of education, it was only the latest step in a lifelong commitment to educating the young. Paige, the son of a librarian and a school principal, was born in Monticello, Mississippi. He graduated from Jackson State University in 1955, coached football at Utica Junior College, and earned his doctorate in physical education from Indiana University.</p>

<p>From 1962 to 1969, he worked as the head coach of the Jackson State football team, followed by a ten-year stint as football coach and dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University, where he founded the school's Center for Excellence in Urban Education. In 1989, Paige became an officer and trustee of the Houston, Texas, school board and was named superintendent in February 1994. In that capacity, Paige elicited suggestions and criticisms from professionals and academics in order to improve Houston's Unified School District.</p>

<p>Paige has served on upper-level state educational committees, and also chaired the Youth Employment Issues Subcommittee of the National Commission for Employment Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor. He also was a member of the Houston Job Training Partnership Council, the Community Advisory Board of Texas Commerce Bank, the American Leadership Forum, and the Board of Directors of the Texas Business and Education Coalition. A firm believer in accountability and standards, Paige sailed through his Senate confirmation to become secretary of education.</p>

<p>Paige announced his resignation after the 2004 election. Bush nominated Margaret Spellings to succeed Paige who was confirmed by the Senate in the beginning of 2005.</p>

<p>The son of a school principal and a librarian, Dr. Rod Paige rose from humble roots in segregated small-town Mississippi all the way to the United States’ Secretary of Education.</p>

<p>From 2001 to 2005, Paige served in the first George W. Bush administration. As the nation’s top educator, he championed student achievement and employed "best of breed" solutions to raise national standards of educational excellence. A member of the Presidential Cabinet, Paige spearheaded the implementation of the historic No Child Left Behind Act, with the goal of reinvigorating America’s education system.</p>

<p>Paige forged his reputation for seeking out and putting in place innovative approaches to systemic academic improvement when he was dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University (TSU). At TSU, he established the University's Center for Excellence in Urban Education.</p>