Virginia Yapp Trotter (November 29, 1921 – October 11, 1998) was Assistant Secretary of Education from 1974 to 1977, under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. The position was included in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare at the time. Trotter was the first woman to hold the U.S. government's highest education post, although the position did not become cabinet-level until 1979.