Celebrating Our Honorees

2006 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients

The Honorable Margaret M. Spellings
U.S. Secretary of Education

The United States Senate confirmed Margaret M. Spellings as the 8th U.S. Secretary of Education on January 20, 2005.

During President George W. Bush’s first term, Spellings served as assistant to the President for domestic policy where she helped craft education policies, including the No Child Left Behind Act. She was also responsible for the development and implementation of White House policy on immigration, health, labor, transportation, justice, housing, and other elements of President Bush’s domestic agenda.

Prior to her White House appointment, Spellings worked for six years as then-Governor George W. Bush’s senior advisor with responsibility for developing and implementing the Governor’s education policy. Her work included the Texas Reading Initiative, the Student Success Initiative to eliminate social promotion, and the nation’s strongest school assessment and accountability system. She also made recommendations to the governor for key gubernatorial appointments. Previously, Spellings served as associate executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards.

Born in Michigan, Spellings moved with her family at a young age to Houston, Texas, where she attended public schools. As the mother of two daughters, one school-age and one college-age, Secretary Spellings has a special understanding of the issues facing parents and students today. Her daughter Mary is a freshman in college, and her daughter Grace attends a public middle school. Secretary Spellings is the first mother of school children to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education.

This year, Spellings is overseeing the national Commission on the Future of Higher Education, on which Montgomery College President Charlene Nunley is serving as a member.

Secretary Spellings graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in political science.