Katherine D. Ortega

Katherine Dávalos Ortega (born July 16, 1934 in Tularosa , New Mexico ) is an American banker and government official.

Early years

Katherine Davalos Ortega, daughter of Catarina Dávalos and Donaciano Ortega, was built during the Great Depression in Otero County born. She was one of nine children. Her family came to New Mexico when the area was still a territory . Her paternal grandfather came from Texas in the 1880s , while on the mother's side, her great grandfather Luciano was one of the first settlers in Tularosa in 1862. Her father, a former justice of the peace in the nearby town of Bent , opened a forge in Tularosa in 1928. Until the 1940s he also owned a small restaurant with a dance hall in which the whole family worked. Ortega started working there at the age of 10. She operated the cash register. Originally she only spoke Spanish . She later learned English while attending the local elementary school. As a teenager, Ortega worked as a cashier at Ortero County State Bank to make enough money for college. She attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales ( Roosevelt County ), where they in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration graduated. She originally wanted to be a teacher, but was discouraged by repeated incidents of discrimination and instead opened a small accounting firm in Alamogordo with one of her sisters, a certified public accountant . The family already lived in this town . Her father moved the restaurant there in the 1940s and opened a furniture store.

Ortega moved to Los Angeles in 1968 , where she became a licensed accountant and auditor and was employed by Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company as a tax supervisor . She also worked as a cashier at Pan-American National Bank, a credit institution originally founded by Romana Acosta Bañuelos in 1963 . In 1971 Ortega became vice president there. In the same year, Bañuelos took her oath of office as Treasurer of the United States . Eventually, Ortega became president of Santa Ana State Bank in 1975 , the first female director of a California bank .

In 1977 Ortega returned to New Mexico to help with the family-owned accounting firm. Under her leadership, the company grew into the Otero Savings and Loan Association. The assets were $ 20 million in 1983. Ortega received numerous academic and corporate awards for her accomplishments during this time.

Political career

She was a member of the Republican Party from an early age . Ortega has been quoted several times as saying:

"I was born a Republican"

Joining the party is often attributed to her father, who was a lifelong Republican. Ortega worked for the Republicans at the local and state levels, initially as a kind of low profile contact person for women's and Hispanic groups in New Mexico. After returning to her home state, she helped in 1979 in the re-election campaign of US Senator Pete Domenici . Over time, the US Senator became something of a political patron. In April 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed her to a ten-member Presidential Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business Ownership . In December, she was named one of five members and chairman of the Copyright Royal Commission , a federal agency established in 1976 to set license fees in the cable television and light music industries. In 1983, US Senator Domenici, then chairman of the Senate Budget Committee , put forward Ortega's name for the post of Treasurer of the United States. Their official nomination was on September 12, 1983 by President Reagan.

Treasurer of the United States

Ortega took her oath of office on October 3, 1983. According to the Treasury Department's records, however, her term of office began on September 26th. She was the tenth woman and the second Hispanic to hold office. Three former US Treasurers were present at her swearing-in: Francine Irving Neff , Bañuelos and her immediate predecessor Bay Buchanan . As treasurer, Ortega had a budget of $ 220 million. She used $ 40 million of this to renovate the Statue of Liberty . She also had a new currency designed to prevent counterfeiting. She also led the movement to make the West Point Bullion Depository an official United States Mint .

Although reticent in personal conversations, Ortega became known for her rhetorical speaking skills in public. A tax officer said:

"Her low-key authenticity works magic with an audience."

She was selected to be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Republican National Convention in 1984 . She was the first Hispanic woman to give the keynote address at a nomination party conference. This should be in response to the prominent governor of New York Mario Cuomo at the Democratic National Convention serve.

Until the appointment of health scientist Lauro Cavazos as Minister of Education in 1988, Ortega was the highest-ranking Hispanic and one of the few high-profile women in the administration. She was one of the key figures the White House made to reach out to both the Hispanic community and women's organizations. Only in 1984 did she make nearly 60,000 miles performing in front of Republican and Hispanic groups.

In 1986, Ortega conducted a study after the idea of ​​changing colors on 50 and 100 dollar banknotes was discarded. The color change should make it much more difficult for the counterfeiters and drug barons. In the subsequent administrations, the idea was taken up again and partially implemented in the US currency.

After Reagan stepped down, Ortega continued to serve under George HW Bush . She was reappointed to her post on January 20, 1989. In July, however, she resigned and returned to her family business in New Mexico.

Later years

After Ortega returned to the private sector and pursued her business activities, she continued to be active in politics. In 1990 she appointed President Bush as Alternate Representative to the United Nations for the duration of his term in office. She also worked in an advisory capacity for the National Park Service and the non-profit Executive Women in Government.

Ortega also served on the boards of a number of large corporations: Ralston Purina , Rayonier , Ultramar Diamond Shamrock and, since 1992, Kroger . During her time at Catalyst, a business and research consulting firm, she made appearances on behalf of business women. The Kean University , the Villanova University and her alma mater Eastern New Mexico awarded her an honorary doctorate, respectively.

SICPA investigation

In 1992, Senator John Glenn , then chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee , conducted an investigation into irregularities in the Treasury Department's bid process . Ortega's participation as treasurer was subjected to a close examination. Glenn's committee investigated the relationship between Robert J. Leuver, then director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing , and Maurice Amon, president of SICPA Industries of America - the sole supplier of US currency inks since 1982. US Senator Glenn was particularly concerned about the gifts and other benefits Leuver had received from Amon's company. One focus of the investigation was a business trip to the Far East by several government officials and economic officials, including Ortega, Leuver and Amon, in 1985. The committee of inquiry found that neither Ortega nor Leuver were guilty of any crime. The Justice Department declined an investigation on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

In 2002, Ortega's accomplishments from humble beginnings were recognized by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans when she received the Horatio Alger Award .

family

She married upon her return to New Mexico in the late 1970s. The marriage only lasted a short time. In interviews she did not want to comment on this part of her life and insisted that she be reported only as Mrs. Ortega . In 1989 she married her second husband, Lloyd J. Derrickson, a former lawyer at Merrill Lynch and later a board member of World Cell Inc., a wireless communications consultancy. She has no children.

Trivia

Ortega named her family upbringing as her main inspiration in life:

"I am the product of a heritage that teaches strong family devotion, a commitment to earning a livelihood by hard work, patience, determination and preseverance."

She often highlighted her father in particular:

"[He] taught me we were as good as anybody else, that we could accomplish anything we wanted ..."

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Susan Rasky: I Was Born a Republican, The New York Times, August 21, 1984, A20
2. ↑ ^{a b} The Burden Basket - St. Joseph Apache Mission Restoration Project , May 2007, 2
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Katherine Davalos Ortega , Encyclopedia of World Biography, Answers.com
4. ^ ^{A b c d e} Robert McFadden: Choice for Treasurer: Katherine Davalos Ortega, The New York Times, September 13, 1983, A1
5. ↑ Vicki Ruíz and Virginia Sánchez Korrol: Latina US Treasurers, Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006, pp. 374f
6. ^ ^{A b} Francis X. Clines: Reagan Names Hispanic Woman as Treasurer of the United States, The New York Times September 13, 1983, B14
7. ^ ^{A b} Remarks at the Swearing-in Ceremony for Katherine D. Ortega as Treasurer of the United States , Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, University of Texas website, October 3, 1983
8. ↑ ^{a b} United States Department of the Treasury, Treasurers of the US , June 28, 2009
9. ^ Adam R. Hazlett: Katherine D. Ortega: 1934 , Hispanic Biographies, Volume 4
10. ↑ Abigail Trafford, et al .: She's come a long way- or has she? (women's equality), US News & World Report, Aug. 6, 1984
11. ^ A New Drug War Weapon, Albany Times Union, September 27, 1989
12. ↑ Katherine D. Ortega in the Notable Names Database (English)
13. ↑ Outstanding Americans to Receive Horatio Alger Award, US Newswire, November 28, 2001, Via Highbeam Research, June 24, 2009
14. ↑ George Graziadio, Jr. Receives Horatio Alger Award ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Italian Voice, May 5, 2002, Via Highbeam Research, June 23, 2009
15. ↑ Lloyd J. Derrickson , Bloomberg Business
16. ↑ Chuck Conconi: Personalities ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , The Washington Post, Washington Post Newsweek Interactive Co., March 29, 1989, Via HighBeam Research, Accessed June 23, 2009