Donna E. Shalala

During her many decades as a scholar, teacher, and administrator, Donna E. Shalala profoundly impacted public health policy, educational outcomes, and the academic community, including at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was the first woman to lead a Big Ten Conference school and only the second woman in the country to head a major research university.

Shalala’s tenure as chancellor at UW–Madison from 1988 to 1993 was marked by a greater investment in world-class faculty, an increase in the number of students drawn to Wisconsin, the push for a strong public-private partnership to build new science facilities, and the return of UW athletics to national prominence.

Shalala stepped down as UW–Madison chancellor in January 1993 to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she spearheaded initiatives that expanded access to health care, doubled the budget for the National Institutes of Health, and strengthened the Medicare and Medicaid programs. She served for eight years, becoming the longest-serving HHS secretary in U.S. history.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shalala earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Western College for Women. One of the country’s first Peace Corps volunteers, she served two years in Iran. She earned a PhD in political science and economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Shalala served as president of Hunter College of the City University of New York from 1980 to 1987 and president of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2015. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Florida for one term, from 2018 to 2020.

In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Shalala the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2011, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. She currently is the Trustee Professor of Political Science and Health Policy at the University of Miami.