President-elect Donald Trump has selected Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as his nominee for secretary of state. If confirmed, the 53-year-old Miami native would make history as the first alumnus of the University of Miami School of Law and as the first first-generation Cuban American to take on this prestigious role.
"We are proud to see a Miami Law alumnus be nominated for this critical role," said Patricia Abril, interim dean of the School of Law. "It is a significant moment in the School of Law’s history and a testament to Senator Rubio’s dedication to public service.”
Rubio graduated from the School of Law cum laude in 1996, where he was active with the Hispanic Law Student Association, Litigation Skills Program, Mock Trial Team, and International Moot Court.
When a law student, Rubio interned in the offices of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and ran Sen. Bob Dole's Miami-Dade presidential campaign.
Rubio's Miami roots run deep. His parents came to the United States from Cuba in 1956. His father worked as a hotel bartender; his mother worked as a maid. The family eventually settled in West Miami, and Rubio attended South Miami Senior High, where he played football. Before attending law school, he was awarded a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Florida.
Rubio's political career began with his election to the West Miami City Commission. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and was the first Cuban American to serve as speaker of the Florida House in 2007. Rubio was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2011, a seat he has held since.
As a senator, Rubio has spent his tenure building his foreign policy bona fides. His first year in office was marked by his passionate defense of the U.S. embargo against Cuba and his defeat of an ambassador to Cuba nomination. He felt the candidate would not be sufficiently tough on the regime. He also rallied support of U.S. intervention to bring down Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi and has supported bills to support humanitarian aid to Haiti.
During the first Trump administration, Rubio was valued for his influence in Latin America and well-thought-out foreign policy positions. In The New York Times, Peter Baker called Rubio "a lead policy architect."
"Through sheer force of will and a concerted effort to engage and educate President Trump, Mr. Rubio has made himself, in effect, a virtual secretary of state for Latin America, driving administration strategy and articulating it to the region from the Senate floor," Baker wrote.
Rubio has served as a ranking member on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee for Foreign Relations.
During his time in elected office, Rubio has played a significant role in advocating for key University programs, including those related to the University’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advance Remote Sensing, the Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education, and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Upon the president-elect's announcement of the pick, Rubio issued a statement: “Leading the U.S. Department of State is a tremendous responsibility, and I am honored by the trust President Trump has placed in me. As secretary of state, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump, we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else. I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the U.S. Senate, so the president has his national security and foreign policy team in place when he takes office on January 20.”
Closer to home, Rubio was awarded the University of Miami Law Alumni Association Achievement Award in 2005. Rubio again returned to the law school in 2006 as the commencement speaker and again in 2012 to introduce presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a campaign rally at the BankUnited Center, which is now the Watsco Center.
"I live in an exceptional country where the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege," said Rubio during his 2016 presidential run.
