*The United States Senate confirmed Rod Paige as the Secretary of Education on this date in 2001.
The education secretary was raised in Monticello, Mississippi, and is the son of public school educators. 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.
Paige was sworn in on January 24th, 2001.
