José Miguel Gallardo

Who was José Miguel Gallardo?

Dr. José Miguel Gallardo was a professor at the University of Puerto Rico and two-time Governor of Puerto Rico. He and his wife, fellow professor Ida Gallardo, lived most of their adult lives in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

He is most remembered today as a strong proponent of bilingual education, and he was appointed as Commissioner of Education in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His first task on taking the office was to increase the teaching of English in schools, in preference over Spanish. The intention was that while students would be taught in elementary school in Spanish, they would gradually be taught increasingly in English through high school. His revised education policies were reversed in 1942.

In 1941, he put the island on "war alert" after the Attack on Pearl Harbor.