Richard Frank Celeste (11 November 1937-) was the Democratic Governor of Ohio from 10 January 1983 to 14 January 1991, succeeding Jim Rhodes and preceding George Voinovich.
Biography[]
Richard Frank Celeste was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Italian-American parents, and he graduated magna cum laude from Yale in 1959 and became a Peace Corps staffer. Celeste served in the state house from 1971 to 1974, as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1979, as Director of the Peace Corps from 1979 to 1981, and as Governor from 1983 to 1991, during which he increased support for human services (such as onsite daycare for state employees), opened many government positions to African-Americans and women, allowed state employee unions to negotiate wages and benefits in addition to working conditions, and commuted several death sentences. He went on to serve as President Bill Clinton's Ambassador to India from 1997 to 2001, and he served as President of Colorado College from 2002 to 2011.