The Honorable Secretary Dr. Donna Shalala, Ph.D. - Public Servant, Scholar, Teacher, Administrator

The Honorable Secretary Dr. Donna Shalala, Ph.D. (https://people.miami.edu/profile/dshalala@miami.edu), currently serves as Professor Emerita, Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Miami, where she previously served as President from 2001 to 2015, where during her tenure as President, she advanced the university into the top tier of U.S. research universities.

With more than 40 years as an accomplished scholar, teacher, and administrator, Secretary Shalala personifies outstanding leadership and dedication to public service.

Secretary Shalala received her A.B. degree from Western College for Women and Ph.D. degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

In addition to her leadership of University of Miami, Secretary Shalala served as President of Hunter College from 1980 to 1987 and as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1987 to 1993.

Secretary Shalala was assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Carter administration. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she served for all eight years of the Clinton administration, becoming the nation's longest serving HHS secretary. During this time she fought to create, implement and oversee the Children’s Healthcare Insurance Program, currently covering over 7.6 million children throughout the country, as well as doubling the budget of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and securing the highest immunization rates in American history.

Secretary Shalala was appointed by President George W. Bush to co-chair with Senator Bob Dole the Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors, and in 2008 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. In 2009, she was appointed chair of the Committee on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Most recently, in addition to serving in the U.S. Congress for Florida's 27th congressional district, in the U.S. House of Representatives, Secretary Shalala served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on The Emerging Global Health Crisis, as well as a Commissioner of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

One of the most honored academics of her generation, Secretary Shalala has been elected to seven national academies including: National Academy of Education; the National Academy of Public Administration; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the American Philosophical Society; the National Academy of Social Insurance; the American Academy of Political and Social Science; and the National Academy of Medicine.