Betty Castor
Encyclopedia
Betty Castor neeElizabeth Bowe, is an American educator and former politician and elected officeholder. Castor was elected to the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....

 and the Florida Education Commissioner, and she later served as the President of the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

, and President of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in education. Founded in 1987, NBPTS improves teaching and student learning by enhancing overall educator effectiveness and recognizing and rewarding highly...

.

Her public service included three terms in the Florida State Senate and one term as a Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...

 Commissioner. In 2004, she was the Democratic nominee for the open U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 seat of retiring Senator Bob Graham
Bob Graham
Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham is an American politician. He was the 38th Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senator from that state from 1987 to 2005...

 and was narrowly defeated by Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...

.

She is the mother of Kathy Castor
Kathy Castor
Kathy Castor is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district covers most of the city of Tampa, most of south St...

, who is the Democratic Congresswoman from the . Currently, Betty Castor is the Director of the Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida.

Background

Castor was born and grew up in Glassboro, New Jersey
Glassboro, New Jersey
Glassboro is a borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 19,068....

, where her father, Joseph Bowe, was the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

. She attended Glassboro State College
Rowan University
Rowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA with a satellite campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre tract of land donated by the town...

 (now Rowan University
Rowan University
Rowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA with a satellite campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre tract of land donated by the town...

), earning her bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

. While at Glassboro she was active in organizing a drive to support education in Uganda. Because of her activities, President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 appointed her to a diplomatic mission to attend the independence celebrations in Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...

, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 in 1962. Following her graduation in 1963, she attended Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...

 and subsequently went back to Uganda and taught secondary school as part of the Teachers for East Africa program. While in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

, Castor participated in a project to help lead two dozen African school girls to the summit of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

's Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...

, the first all-female expedition to accomplish this.

She returned to the U.S. in 1965, married Donald Castor and moved to Dade County, Florida where Castor was a teacher while studying for her Master of Education degree at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

. While living and studying in Miami, Castor's first daughter, Katherine (Kathy), was born. Kathy Castor
Kathy Castor
Kathy Castor is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district covers most of the city of Tampa, most of south St...

 is currently the Congressional representative of Florida's 11th congressional district
Florida's 11th congressional district
Florida's 11th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida that encompasses most of the city of Tampa and its suburbs and the shoreline of southeastern Hillsborough County. It also includes two areas in other counties: urban neighborhoods of south St...

, which includes portions of greater Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida.

After receiving her Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in 1968, Castor moved with her family to Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

, where she joined the League of Women Voters
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...

's Tampa chapter, becoming its president in 1970. Castor's second daughter, Karen, was born in 1968 and her son, Frank, who currently serves as judge in Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...

, in 1970. In 1972, she ran for the Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...

 Commission. An advocate of environmental protection and governmental reform, Castor faced ten opponents in the Democratic Primary and faced a general election opponent as well. She won all the contests, becoming the first woman ever elected to the County Commission. During her term, she chaired the Environmental Protection Commission and became chair of the Board of County Commissioners in 1976. Later in 1976 she was elected to the State Senate and served until 1978 when she ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor. She was elected again to the Florida Senate in 1982 and became the president pro tempore of the Senate in 1985, the first woman to hold the post. Castor served on numerous education committees and became chair of the appropriations sub-committee on education. She was the co-sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment (1977) and championed bills to end discrimination and fund spouse abuse centers statewide. She successfully sponsored legislation providing for the early childhood education program.

In 1986, Castor was elected statewide to the Florida Cabinet as Florida Education Commissioner, the first woman ever elected to the state cabinet. As Commissioner of Education, Castor served on the Board of Regents and as a member of the Community College Coordination Board. She worked with the legislature to fund the first statewide program to provide funding for the early childhood education program. She worked also with the Insurance Commissioner to develop the Healthy Kids program, providing health insurance for low-income children enrolled in public schools.

In 1989 Castor, who divorced in 1978, married Samuel P. Bell III, an attorney and partner at Pennington, Moore, Wilkinson, Bell & Dunbar (a Tallahassee law firm).

President of the University of South Florida

In 1994 Castor became the first female president of the University of South Florida, one of the largest universities in the southeast with an enrollment of over 40,000 students, four campuses and a medical school. During her tenure, USF gained the Research I designation and the endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....

 tripled from US$65 million to just over US$200 million. The Honors Program was expanded dramatically and a major expansion of residential on-campus housing was approved. USF joined its sister institution, the University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

, in creating an academic and economic partnership, the I-4 High Technology Corridor. She pursued international exchanges with institutions in China, led a delegation of faculty and staff to the African Economic Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe and encouraged new opportunities for USF faculty to study abroad.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

From 1999 to 2002 Castor served as president for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in education. Founded in 1987, NBPTS improves teaching and student learning by enhancing overall educator effectiveness and recognizing and rewarding highly...

. The mission of the board is to build a system of high standards for education and encourage teachers throughout America to pursue its rigorous certification process. The number of board certified teachers grew under Castor's leadership from about 2070 to 25,000 by 2003. Financial incentives were developed in 48 states and hundreds of school districts.

Senate campaign, 2004



In the 2004 Senate campaign
United States Senate election in Florida, 2004
The 2004 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob...

, Castor faced two Democratic candidates, Miami-Dade mayor Alex Penelas
Alex Penelas
Alexander "Alex" Penelas is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.-Schooling and personal life:Penelas, an American of Cuban descent, attended college at St. Thomas University...

 and Hollywood
Hollywood, Florida
-Demographics:As of 2000, there were 59,673 households out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of...

 Congressman Peter Deutsch
Peter Deutsch
Peter R. Deutsch is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Deutsch was a Democratic Representative from Florida's 20th congressional district from 1993 until 2005.- Background :...

, in the Democratic primary election.

Castor won the Democratic nomination on August 31. She was defeated, however, by Republican candidate Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...

 in a close race on November 2, 2004. The overwhelming support for Martinez among Latinos effectively counterbalanced Castor's relatively high popularity among swing voters throughout the state.

Patel Center for Global Solutions

In January 2007, Betty Castor was appointed the Executive Director at the Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

.
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