Biography:

Born in Solares (Santander) on July 28th, 1951, he is married and has no children.

He obtained his doctorate in chemistry at the 'Complutense' University of Madrid, where he was awarded a special degree prize.

He has been lecturer in organic chemistry at Madrid's 'Complutense' University and has also worked at the Universities of Constance (Germany) and Montpellier (France).

He has been a member of the Spanish Socialist party since 1974. For several years he was a member of the regional committee of the Madrid socialist federation and an advisor on scientific and university subjects for the Socialist Parliamentary Group.

On December 7th, 1982 he was appointed director of the technical bureau of the Secretary of State's Department for Universities and Research, a post in which he remained until May 1985, when he was named secretary general for education and, on July 29th 1988, secretary of state for education. In these posts, he collaborated on some of the most important educational laws enacted by the socialist government: the University Reform Law, the Law on the Promotion and General Co-ordination of Scientific and Technical Research and the Organic Law on the General Organization of the Educational System.

He is the author of 20 or so research papers on the calculus of reaction mechanism in organic chemistry.

On June 23rd 1992, he was appointed minister of education and science.

On July 14th, 1993, he was appointed minister for the presidency.