Norman Y. Mineta, former U.S. secretary of commerce and U.S.
secretary of transportation, joined the Mansfield Foundation Board
in 2006. Secretary
Mineta is vice chairman of the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton.
He was appointed U.S. secretary of transportation by President
Bush in 2001 and served until July 2006 – the longest-serving
transportation secretary in the department’s history. In
2000, Secretary Mineta was appointed U.S. secretary of commerce by President
Clinton. From 1975 to 1995, Secretary Mineta represented the Silicon Valley
area of his home state of California in the U.S. House of Representatives,
and he also served as vice president of Lockheed Martin and mayor
of San Jose, California.
Secretary Mineta and his family were among the 120,000 Americans
of Japanese ancestry forced from their homes and into internment
camps during World War II. After graduating from the University
of California at Berkeley, Secretary Mineta joined the army in 1953 and served
as an intelligence officer in Japan and Korea. He has received
numerous awards for his contributions to the field of civil rights
and for excellence in public service.