Maurice Ferre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maurice Ferre (born June 23, 1935 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is the first Puerto Rican to be elected Mayor of a major U.S. city.
Maurice Ferre was born into a wealthy Puerto Rican family. He was the son of businessman Jose Ferre and nephew of the former governor of Puerto Rico Luis A. Ferre. Maurice's father Jose visited Miami, Florida in the 1920's and wondered why the city didn't have any tall buildings. He then ventured into construction and real estate development in Miami. Maurice was born when Jose and his family returned to his hometown, Ponce in Puerto Rico.
Maurice's father returned to Miami where he set up a construction business. Maurice attended the University of Miami and in 1957, earned a bachelors degree in architectural engineering. He then went to work in the family concrete and real estate business.
Maurice's political career began in 1966, when he became a Florida State Representative. From 1967-1970, he served as Commissioner of Miami Dade County. In 1973, Maurice, a Democrat was elected Mayor of Miami, thus becoming the first Hispanic Mayor of a major U.S. city. He served as Mayor for six terms, for a total of twelve years, until 1985.
From 1993-1996, Maurice was Vice-Chairman, Dade County Board of Commissioners, Miami. He has been active in national political campaigns and he was a member of several presidential advisory boards.
Maurice has also worked as a banker and business consultant and has held various research and teaching posts. He lost in his bid to be reelected Mayor of Miami in a recent election.
Maurice Ferre is now on a fellowship at Princeton University and is writing a book about the contributions Hispanics have made to the American culture.
Ferre is one of the driving forces behind the INTERMESTIC (stands for "International" - "Domestic") dialogue, which attempts to seek consensus regarding Puerto Rico's political status problem from an "international" as well as "domestic" point of view. He most recently spoke about this effort to deal with Puerto Rico's political status in an address to the Puerto Rico Senate as keynote speaker during the Governors' Day special session on February 16, 2006.
