Sila María Calderón Serra (born September 23, 1942) is a Puerto Rican politician, businesswoman, and philanthropist who was the
governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
from 2001 to 2005, becoming the first
female
An organism's sex is female ( symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and ...
to be elected and serve as governor in
Puerto Rican history. Prior to her term as governor, Calderón held various positions in the government of Puerto Rico, including the 12th
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1988 to 1989, and
Chief of Staff to Governor Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...
. She was also mayor of
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to:
* San Juan, Puerto Rico
* San Juan, Argentina
* San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines
San Juan may also refer to:
Places Arge ...
, the capital of Puerto Rico, from 1997 to 2001.
Early life and education
Sila Calderón Serra was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
on September 23, 1942, to entrepreneur César Augusto Calderón and Sila Serra Jesús. Her maternal grandfather Miguel Serra Joy emigrated from
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
, Balearic Islands to Puerto Rico in the late 19th century which granted Calderón
Spanish citizenship
The Spanish nationality legal framework refers to all the laws, provisions, regulations, and resolutions in Spain concerning nationality.
Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes ...
in 2012.
She attended high school at the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Las Madres in
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Santurce (, meaning Saint George from Basque language, Basque ''Santurtzi'') is the largest and most populated Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico, barrio of the Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, the cap ...
. In 1964 she graduated with honors from
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...
in
Purchase, New York
Purchase is a hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...
, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government. She later attended the Graduate School of Public Administration at the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
.
[Biografía de Sila M. Calderón](_blank)
on Boricuas Hall of Fame (2001)[Sila Calderón Serra: Datos Relevantes](_blank)
on Centro de Estudios y Documentación Internacionales de Barcelona[Biografía: Sila Calderón](_blank)
on Biblioteca Centro para Puerto Rico[Biografía de Sila Calderón](_blank)
on LexJuris[Sila Calderón](_blank)
on LaBiografia.com
Professional career
First career years: 1973–1985
Her career began in 1973 when she was named Executive Aide to the Labor Secretary, Luis Silva Recio. Two years later, she was named Special Aide for Economic Development to then Governor,
Rafael Hernández Colón
Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...
.
After Hernández Colón was defeated in the
1976 general elections, Calderón went to work on the private sector working as Director of Business Development at
Citibank
Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...
, N.A. in San Juan. At the time, Citibank in San Juan was one of John Reed's experimental marketing centers. As part of her business development responsibilities, Calderón designed and marketed several new consumer products which significantly increased the earnings of the Retail Division of the Bank. In 1978, she became president of Commonwealth Investment Company, a family real estate concern that owned and managed industrial buildings.
First government positions: 1985–1990
In
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, Rafael Hernández Colón was again elected governor and he appointed Calderón as Chief of Staff, being the first woman in that position. In 1988, Hernández Colón named her Puerto Rico's 12th Secretary of State.
During this time, Calderón was also part of the Governor's Economic Adviser Council and the board of directors of the
Puerto Rico Government Development Bank and the Center for Specialized Studies in Government Management. She also presided the Inversions Committee of the Industrial Development Company. She was also Secretary General of the Commission that organized the activities of the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of the Americas.
Return to private life: 1989–1995
Calderón resigned in 1989 and returned to her business endeavors. She served on the boards of major local corporations such as BanPonce,
Banco Popular, and Pueblo International. She also served as part of the Committee for Economic Development of Puerto Rico, the Sor Isolina Ferré Foundation, and as President of the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation during 1991 and 1992.
Political career
Mayor of San Juan: 1997–2001
Calderón returned to public life in 1995, running in the
Popular Democratic Party (PPD) primary for Mayor of San Juan. She won the primary handily over her two opponents by a huge margin. After that, she became President of the Municipal Committee of the PPD in San Juan, and later became part of the board of directors of the Party.
In the
1996 mayoral general election, she was elected Mayor of San Juan, becoming the second woman in the city's history to serve in that office and the first woman elected to the position. As mayor, she undertook one of the largest public works program in the city to date, sponsoring various urban redevelopment projects to revitalize
Old San Juan
Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...
,
Condado,
Río Piedras
Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream".
Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to:
Places United States
* Rio, Flo ...
,
Santurce, and other deteriorated sections of the city. She also initiated the
Special Communities Program to assist poor communities’ empowerment and economic development.
Governor: 2001–2004
On April 21, 1999, Calderón presented her candidacy to be
Governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
. On May 31, she won the primary and took the presidency of the party, with then-President
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá assuming the role of Vice-president. Acevedo Vilá eventually became Calderón's running mate for
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.
In 2000, Calderón led the
Popular Democratic Party (PPD) during a close campaign for governor against
Carlos Pesquera (PNP) and
Rubén Berríos
Rubén Ángel Berríos Martínez (born June 21, 1939) is a Puerto Rican politician, international law attorney, writer, and current president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). A former three-time senator, Berríos is a perennial PI ...
(PIP). Calderón was elected governor, becoming the first elected female governor in the history of Puerto Rico. After being sworn in, Calderón appointed her two daughters,
Sila Mari and María Elena, to serve as First Ladies.
As governor, Calderón took action to help the most disadvantaged communities. With the passing of Law 1 of 2001 the government invested $1 billion to create the
Puerto Rico Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development with the intention of developing the marginalized communities of the island. The program intended to create 14,500 development projects in 686 communities. The program has been criticized for many of the projects never being completed and funds instead being diverted.
In 2003, Calderón announced her determination to fulfill the commitments of her platform and her decision not to seek re-election in 2004.
On May 26, 2004, Calderón had to deal with a man who entered
La Fortaleza
La Fortaleza ( English: "the fortress"), also known as the ''Palacio de Santa Catalina'' (Saint Catherine's Palace), is the official residence and workplace of the governor of Puerto Rico. Located in the historic quarter of Old San Juan in the ...
, the governor's mansion, with a knife and took a receptionist hostage, demanding to speak directly with Calderón. After Calderón negotiated with the hostage taker, the man dropped the knife and surrendered to the police.
Present
Calderón is a partner in Inter-American Global Links, Inc. (IGlobaL), a business and trade consulting firm with links in Central America, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and the United States. She chairs a philanthropic Foundation which has establish a non-profit and non-partisan entity – The Center for Puerto Rico: Sila M. Calderón Foundation – which gives attention to the issues of poverty, women, urban revitalization, ethical values and social responsibility.
Honours and awards
During her career, Calderón has received many honors and awards:
* The Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce named her Outstanding Woman in the Public Sector three times (1975, 1985, 1987).
* In 2005, she was named as one of the Distinguished Women of the Year by the Product Association of Puerto Rico.
* In 1987, she was granted the
Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...
by
Juan Carlos I
Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...
,
King of Spain
The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country.
The Spanish ...
.
* In 1988, she was selected Leader of the Year in the field of Public Works by the
American Public Works Association, Chapter of Puerto Rico.
* In 2003, she received the Harvard Foundation Award.
* In 2004, she received the Golden Plate Award from the
Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
in Washington, DC.
Calderón has also received several honorary degrees:
* 1989 –
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...
– Doctor in Arts and Humanities
* May 1997 –
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...
– Doctor of Humane Letters
* May 2001 –
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
– Doctor of Laws
* May 2001 –
New School University
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
– Doctor of Laws
During her tenure, Calderón gave particular attention to strengthening the economic, commercial and cultural ties between Puerto Rico and its Latin American neighbors. Underlining this effort, official visits were paid by Governor Calderón to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
,
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
and
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
in the years 2001, 2002 and 2004. In recognition of her administration's efforts of collaboration between these countries and Puerto Rico, their governments bestowed upon her their most important civil orders: the
Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella
The Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella (''Orden al Mérito de Duarte, Sánchez y Mella'') is the principal order of the Dominican Republic. It was established on 24 February 1931 as the ''Juan Pablo Duarte Order of Merit'' (''Orden al M ...
of the Dominican Republic; the
Order of Núñez de Balboa of Panama; and the
Order of Juan Santamaría of Costa Rica.
Personal life
Calderón was married to engineer Francisco Xavier González Goenaga from 1964 to 1975.
They had three children together:
Sila María, Francisco Xavier, and María Elena. Both Sila María and María Elena are attorneys, and they served as "First Ladies" of the Commonwealth during Calderón's governorship.
Francisco is an investment banker at
RBC Capital Markets
RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance, and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, and governments globally. Locations span 58 offices in 14 countries across North ...
.
In 1978, Calderón married entrepreneur Adolfo Krans. They divorced in 2001 after 23 years of marriage.
Calderón married again, during her tenure as governor, with Ramón Cantero Frau, her former Secretary of the Department of Economic Development. The wedding was celebrated on September 10, 2003. They were divorced two years later.
Comprometidos Cantero Frau y Ada Torres Toro
on '' El Nuevo Día''; Hernández, Yanira (August 20, 2010)
See also
*List of governors of Puerto Rico
This list of governors of Puerto Rico includes all persons who have held that post, either under Spanish or American rule. The governor of Puerto Rico is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The position was first establi ...
* History of women in Puerto Rico
*List of female governors in the United States
As of 2025, 51 women have served as Governor (United States), governor of a U.S. state, three as governor of an Unincorporated territories of the United States, unincorporated U.S. territory, and two as mayor of the District of Columbia. In Jan ...
References
External links
*
*
Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Sila Maria
1942 births
Chiefs of staff of Puerto Rico
Democratic Party governors of Puerto Rico
Governors of Puerto Rico
Living people
Manhattanville University alumni
Mayors of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella
Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Businesspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians
Presidents of the Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)
Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent
20th-century Puerto Rican women politicians
Secretaries of state of Puerto Rico
Women mayors of places in Puerto Rico
Women governors of Puerto Rico
20th-century Puerto Rican politicians
21st-century Puerto Rican politicians
Puerto Rican philanthropists
Women governors and heads of sub-national entities
21st-century Puerto Rican women politicians
20th-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico
21st-century mayors of places in Puerto Rico