Anthony J. Celebrezze

(HEW) 1962-1965

Anthony J. Celebrezze
(1910 - 1998)

Anthony Celebrezze was born in Anzi, Italy. He was brought to the United States at the age of two, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Ohio Northern University where he received his LL.B. degree in 1936 and his admission to the Ohio State bar. Mr. Celebrezze's first job as an attorney was on the legal staff of the Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. After three years there he opened his own law office in Cleveland, where he had a general practice for the next thirteen years, except for a period during World War II when he served as a seaman in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Celebrezze entered politics in 1950, when he was elected to the Ohio State Senate. In 1953 he was elected Mayor of Cleveland, serving an unprecedented five terms in that city. Then in 1962, President Kennedy appointed Mr. Celebrezze as Secretary for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, a position he held until 1965.