Benítez, Jaime, 1908-2001

Jaime Benítez Rexach (October 29, 1908 – May 30, 2001) was a Puerto Rican author, academic and politician. He was the longest serving chancellor and the first president of the University of Puerto Rico before serving one term as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.

Born on Vieques, a small island about twenty miles off the shore of mainland Puerto Rico, he was raised in San Juan after his parents' deaths. In 1926 Benítez left the island to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he received an LL.B. degree in 1930 and an LL.M. in 1931. That same year he passed the District of Columbia bar examination and returned to Puerto Rico. He later earned an M.A. at the University of Chicago in 1938. In 1931 Benítez began a career in education at the University of Puerto Rico that spanned four decades: he was associate professor of social and political sciences (1931–1942), chancellor of its main campus in Río Piedras (1942–1966) for nearly 30 years. Described by a contemporary as “vivid, voluble, ardent for his country’s good and obviously talented,” Benítez rebuilt the school’s curriculum from the bottom up, implementing far-reaching reforms regarding the teaching of Puerto Rico’s cultural heritage. Enrollment surged from 5,000 to roughly 40,000 students under his leadership.

In 1972, he was elected Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico for a four-year term. In the U.S. House of Representatives he was assigned to the Committee on Education and Labor, an important committee assignment for a man who cared deeply about education and who had an interest in social and labor conditions in Puerto Rico. In the 94th Congress, Benítez introduced legislation to extend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to Puerto Rico. He showed interest in the affairs of U.S. territories, sponsoring legislation to allow American Samoa to elect a governor and lieutenant governor, and supporting the authorization of a loan to the Virgin Islands Government.

While in Congress he was a strong advocate of the current status of Puerto Rico, which he felt was preferable to statehood or independence. A bill to enhance Puerto Rico's relationship with the U.S., H.R. 11200, died in committee. After an unsuccessful reelection bid, Benítez returned to Puerto Rico. He taught at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (IAU) from 1980 to 1986. He was a professor of government at the American College in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. On May 10, 2001, he died at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico of respiratory complications.