Latter-day Saints Appointed to Reagan Cabinet and White House Team

The Utah commissioner of higher education, T. H. Bell, fifty-nine, has been selected by President Ronald Reagan to serve as United States secretary of education. A former member of the Sunday School General Board, Brother Bell was recently released as stake Sunday School president in a Salt Lake stake.

His appointment follows two previous appointments in Washington, D.C. In 1970, he was named acting commissioner of the U.S. Office of Education, serving one year before returning to Utah. In 1974, he was chosen U.S. Commissioner of Education, and served for two years.

Born in Idaho, Dr. Bell has coached in rural schools, taught at universities, and supervised school districts in Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah.

Richard Beal, thirty-four, an associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University, has been named first director of the Office of Planning and Evaluation for the White House. This new office is responsible for briefing President Ronald Reagan daily on decisions that need to be made and options for those decisions. Part of Brother Beal’s job also involves structured discussions with cabinet members.

T. H. Bell, new U.S. Cabinet member