Betty Castor

Betty Castor
Castor in 1984
President of the University of South Florida System
In office
1994–1999
Preceded byRobert Bryan
Succeeded byThomas Tighe
Education Commissioner of Florida
In office
January 6, 1987 – January 3, 1994
GovernorBob Martinez
Lawton Chiles
Preceded byRalph Turlington
Succeeded byDoug Jamerson
Member of the Florida Senate
In office
1982–1986
Preceded byDavid H. McClain[1]
Succeeded byJohn A. Grant Jr.
Constituency21st district
In office
1976–1978
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Bowe

(1941-05-11) May 11, 1941 (age 83)
Glassboro, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Frank Castor
(m. 1965; div. 1978)
(m. 1989; died 2023)
Children3, including Kathy and Karen
EducationRowan University (BA)
University of Miami (MEd)

Elizabeth Castor (née Bowe; born May 11, 1941) is an American educator and former politician. Castor was elected to the Florida Senate and as Florida Education Commissioner, and she subsequently served as the President of the University of South Florida, and President of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Her public service included three terms in the Florida State Senate and one term as a Hillsborough County Commissioner. In 2004, she was the Democratic nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senator Bob Graham and was narrowly defeated by Mel Martinez.

After leaving elected politics, Castor was the director of the Patel Center for Global Solutions at the University of South Florida and later became chair of the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board.[2] She also works with Ruth's List Florida,[3] a group dedicated to recruiting and aiding qualified Democratic women candidates, receiving the Architect of Change Award [4] from them in May 2018.

  1. ^ "Guides @ UF: Federal Documents at University of Florida: Home". Archived from the original on January 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "Former USF president Betty Castor to head worldwide Fulbright Scholarship program". December 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "South Florida's Pamela Goodman heads group aimed at electing more Democratic women". April 23, 2018.
  4. ^ "Betty Castor Receives Architect of Change Award". May 31, 2018.