Patricia Roberts Harris

Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924–March 23, 1985) served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the administration of President Jimmy Carter.

Born in Mattoon, Illinois, Harris graduated summa cum laude from Howard University in 1945, and later graduated from George Washington University National Law Center in 1960. She was dean of Howard University School of Law in 1969.

Harris was the first African-American woman to serve as an ambassador, representing the U.S. in Luxembourg under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Harris was appointed to the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter upon his election 1977. She thus became the first African-American woman to enter the line of succession, at number 13. Between 1977 and 1979 she served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and in 1979, she served as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

After the Department of Education Organization Act was signed into law on October 17, 1979, the Department Health, Education and Welfare was divided into the separate departments of Health and Human Services and Education. Harris then served as the first Secretary of Health and Human Services until Carter left office in 1981.

In 1982, Harris become a professor at the George Washington National Law Centerm, a position she held until her death on March 23, 1985.

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