Miguel Hernández Agosto (April 5, 1927 – March 18, 2016) was a Puerto Rican politician whose service in government spanned several generations. Affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), he started his political career as a Cabinet member, but eventually became a Senator at-large. Hernández Agosto served as President of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, contro ...

for 12 years (1981-1993).

Early years and education

Hernández Agosto was born on April 5, 1927, in

Las Piedras, Puerto Rico Las Piedras (, ) is a Las Piedras barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in east Puerto Rico (U.S.) located in the central eastern region of the island, north of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Yabucoa; south of Canóvanas, Pu ...

. Hernández Agosto finished his bachelor studies in agricultural sciences from the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM ...

at the age of 19. Next year, he completed a master's degree from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

, and later a PhD from

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Hernández Agosto is a member of the Latino fraternity Phi Iota Alpha, the oldest inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for Latino Americans.

Professional career

During his youth, Hernández Agosto served as a science and math teacher at high schools in Humacao and Juncos.

Public service

From 1960 to 1965, Hernández Agosto served as executive director of the Puerto Rico Lands Authority under Gov.

Luis Muñoz Marín José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín (February 18, 1898April 30, 1980) was a Puerto Rican journalist, politician, statesman and was the first elected governor of Puerto Rico, regarded as the "Architect of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth." In 1948 he ...

, who subsequently appointed him as Secretary of the

Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture The Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture is one of the few Cabinet-level government agencies explicitly created by the Constitution of Puerto Rico as the Department of "Agriculture and Commerce", most of the commerce at the time of its enactment ...

, a position he also held under the governorship of

Roberto Sánchez Vilella Roberto Sánchez Vilella (19 February 1913 – 24 March 1997) was the governor of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1969. Sánchez Vilella successfully ran for governor in the 1964 elections for the '' Partido Popular Democrático''. He is also the fou ...

. In 1970, he entered elective politics as a senator at-large, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of then-Sen. Muñoz Marín. Two years later, he was elected senator for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). One year after his election, he was named vice-president of the Senate. Hernández Agosto was reelected in 1976 and appointed as minority speaker. In 1981, after being reelected again, Hernández Agosto became the

's ninth president, a position he held for 12 years. In 1993, after the

Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico The Popular Democratic Party ( es, Partido Popular Democrático, PPD) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-governance. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the ...

's defeat in the 1992 elections, he became again the Senate Minority Leader of his party until 1996. Hernández Agosto was president of the Popular Democratic Party from 1978 to 1981, and presided the Committee for the Quincentenary of the discovery of America and Puerto Rico. At the national level, Hernández Agosto was affiliated with the Democratic Party. After winning a bruising reorganization primary campaign in 1988 against former Governor

Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He als ...

, he became State Chair of the Democratic Party of Puerto Rico, a post he held until 1992.

Retirement and death

In his final years, Hernández Agosto was a part-time law professor at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpo ...

and practiced law. In 2008, he chaired then-Gov.

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer. He served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus ( LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of Pu ...

's unsuccessful reelection campaign. Hernández Agosto died on March 18, 2016. Gov.

Alejandro García Padilla Alejandro Javier García Padilla (; born August 3, 1971) is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2013 to 2017. Prior to this position, García Padilla held various roles in the political la ...

ordered flags to be raised at half-staff for five days in his honor.

References

External links

Official Biography
from the Senate of Puerto Rico , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Agosto, Miguel 1927 births 2016 deaths Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico Michigan State University alumni People from Las Piedras, Puerto Rico Presidents of the Senate of Puerto Rico Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican party leaders Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Secretaries of Agriculture of Puerto Rico University of Michigan alumni