United States Secretary of Education

The **United States Secretary of Education** is the head of the Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and 16th in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with Education.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education as a cabinet-level agency. Previously, Education had been handled by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, henceforth known as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

## Chronological list

Source
|No.|class=unsortable|Portrait|Name|State of residence|Took office|Left office|colspan=2|President||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||California|November 30, 1979|January 20, 1981|style="background: ;"||(1977–1981)|||||||
|||Utah|January 22, 1981|January 20, 1985|rowspan=4 style="background: ;"||rowspan=4|(1981–1989)||||||
|rowspan=2||rowspan=2||rowspan=2|North Carolina|rowspan=2|February 6, 1985|rowspan=2|September 20, 1988|||||
|rowspan=2||rowspan=2||rowspan=2|Texas|rowspan=2|September 20, 1988|rowspan=2|December 12, 1990|||||
|rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(1989–1993)|||||||||||
|bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA|Illinois|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|December 12, 1990|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|March 22, 1991|||||
|||Tennessee|March 22, 1991|January 20, 1993||||||||||
|||South Carolina|January 21, 1993|January 20, 2001|style="background: ;"||(1993–2001)|||||||
|||rowspan=2|Texas|January 20, 2001|January 20, 2005|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2001–2009)|||||
|||January 20, 2005|January 20, 2009|||||||||||
|||Illinois|January 21, 2009|January 1, 2016|rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(2009–2017)||||||
|rowspan=2||rowspan=2||rowspan=2|New York|style="background:#e6e6aa;"|January 1, 2016|style="background:#e6e6aa;"|March 14, 2016|||||
|March 14, 2016|January 20, 2017|||||||||||||
|bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA|Virginia|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|January 20, 2017|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|February 7, 2017|rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(2017–2021)|
|||Michigan|February 7, 2017|January 8, 2021||||||||||
|bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA|South Carolina|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|January 8, 2021|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|January 20, 2021|||||
|bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA|Virginia|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|January 20, 2021|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|March 2, 2021|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2021–2025)|
|||Connecticut|March 2, 2021|January 20, 2025||||||||||
|bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA||bgcolor=#E6E6AA|January 20, 2025|bgcolor=#E6E6AA|March 3, 2025|rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2025–present)|
||Linda McMahon|Connecticut|March 3, 2025|_Incumbent_||||||||||

## Living former secreatries of education

As of January 2026, there are ten living former secretaries of education, the oldest being Joseph A. Califano Jr. (served 1977-1979). The most recent death of a former Secretary of Education was that of Rod Paige (served 2001-2005) on December 9, 2025. The current oldest living person who has held the position of Secreatry of Education since its creation in October 1979 is Richard Riley (served 1993-2001)

However, two former secreatries, F. David Mathews (served 1975-1977) and Joseph A. Califano Jr. (served 1977-1979) served prior to the implention and founding of the Department of Education, thus being recognized as former Secreatries of Education but also Secreatries of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the Secreatry of Health and Human Services)

## Infobox (official post)

- **post**: United States Secretary of Education
- **flag**: Flag of the United States Secretary of Education.svg
- **flagborder**: yes
- **flagcaption**: Flag of the secretary
- **insignia**: Seal of the United States Department of Education.svg
- **insigniacaption**: Seal of the Department of Education
- **image**: ED Sec Linda McMahon (cropped).jpg
- **incumbent**: Linda McMahon
- **incumbentsince**: March 3, 2025
- **department**: United States Department of Education, Department of Education
- **style**: Mrs. Secretary (informal)
The Honourable#United States, The Honorable (formal)
- **reports to**: President of the United States, President
- **seat**: Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Washington, D.C.
- **appointer**: President of the United States, President
- **appointer qualified**: with United States Senate, Senate advice and consent
- **termlength**: No fixed term
- **first**: Shirley Hufstedler
- **succession**: United States presidential line of succession, Sixteenth
- **deputy**: United States Deputy Secretary of Education, Deputy Secretary
- **salary**: Executive Schedule, Executive Schedule, Level I