Donna Shalala Biography Quotes 33 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Donna Edna Shalala was born on February 14, 1941, in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised in a Lebanese American household that prized education, enterprise, and public-mindedness, she developed an early interest in civic life and institutions. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Western College for Women in Ohio in 1962, then joined the newly created Peace Corps, serving in Iran in the early 1960s. The experience grounded her commitment to public service and broadened her understanding of how policy affects everyday life. Shalala went on to receive a Ph.D. in political science from Syracuse University's Maxwell School in 1970, focusing on public administration and the intersection of policy, research, and governance.

Early Public Service and Academic Leadership
Shalala began her academic career teaching political science and public policy at leading institutions, including the City University of New York and Columbia University. Her scholarly work and pragmatic bent led to federal service during the Carter administration. From 1977 to 1980 she served as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, working with HUD Secretaries Patricia Roberts Harris and Moon Landrieu and reporting to the White House under President Jimmy Carter. The role honed her leadership in evidence-based policymaking and her skill at translating research into programs with practical impact.

Hunter College and Wisconsin
In 1980 Shalala became president of Hunter College, part of the City University of New York, where she strengthened academic programs and advocated for urban students navigating affordability and access challenges. She was appointed chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1988, becoming the first woman to lead a Big Ten university. At Wisconsin, she steered a major public research campus through fiscal and political currents, championing faculty excellence and student opportunity amid shifting state priorities. She collaborated with state leaders, including Governor Tommy Thompson, on matters of higher education's role in economic development and the state's policy experimentation during that era.

Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Bill Clinton nominated Shalala as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1993, placing her at the center of national health and social policy for two presidential terms. She worked closely with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on the administration's early health reform effort and with Vice President Al Gore on management and performance initiatives. Under her stewardship, HHS implemented the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, including the development of landmark privacy rules; helped launch and administer the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997; and managed the complex implementation of welfare reform following the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. She oversaw Head Start, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, collaborating with NIH Director Harold Varmus during the beginning of a historic increase in biomedical research funding. At the Food and Drug Administration, Commissioner David Kessler's tobacco efforts aligned with Shalala's public health priorities, as did prevention campaigns and youth smoking initiatives. She worked with Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders early in the administration and later with David Satcher, who also brought his perspective as a former CDC director. The HHS portfolio in those years spanned HIV/AIDS policy, immunization, community health, and the modernization of data standards, and Shalala was known for balancing ambitious goals with careful management of a large, science-driven department.

President of the University of Miami
Shalala became president of the University of Miami in 2001, where she led a sustained period of research growth, campus development, and health-system expansion, including strengthening the medical enterprise that serves South Florida. She emphasized public health partnerships, hurricane resilience, and community engagement, reflecting the university's role in a diverse, fast-growing region. Her tenure included managing high-visibility NCAA compliance challenges tied to booster activity; she cooperated with investigators and pushed internal reforms to protect academic and athletic integrity. She worked with trustees, faculty leaders, and civic partners to align the university's mission with regional needs in medicine, science, and the arts.

National Commissions and Honors
In 2007, President George W. Bush asked Shalala to co-chair, with former Senator Bob Dole, the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors. The Dole-Shalala Commission produced a widely cited set of recommendations to improve the continuum of care for service members injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, strengthening coordination among the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and community providers. For her decades of service, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008. In 2015, Shalala became president and CEO of the Clinton Foundation, working closely with Bill and Chelsea Clinton on the organization's global health, economic empowerment, and civic initiatives, and guiding it through a period of intense public scrutiny while reinforcing governance and transparency.

Congressional Service
Shalala entered electoral politics in her late 70s, winning a South Florida seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. Serving during the 116th Congress under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she focused on health care access and affordability, prescription drug pricing, higher education policy, and local resilience issues important to Miami-Dade County. Her experience as HHS secretary and as a university leader informed her legislative priorities and her oversight work on federal agencies and programs that shape health and education outcomes. After one term, she was defeated in 2020 by Maria Elvira Salazar, a reminder of the district's competitiveness and shifting political dynamics.

Approach, Influence, and Legacy
Across academia, cabinet service, and Congress, Shalala's leadership has been marked by data-informed decision-making and an insistence on managerial competence. She built coalitions with scientists, educators, and policymakers to translate ideas into programs with measurable results. While her tenure at HHS confronted legislative compromises and public controversies common to social policy, she left durable frameworks, including HIPAA implementation and CHIP's expansion of children's coverage, and helped accelerate the nation's investment in medical research. In higher education, she is associated with expanding research capacity and improving student support at public and private institutions. Her national commission work with Bob Dole demonstrated her capacity to bridge partisan lines on behalf of veterans and military families. She has been a longstanding figure in Democratic policy circles, working with leaders including Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Al Gore, and Nancy Pelosi, while also partnering with Republicans such as George W. Bush, Bob Dole, and Tommy Thompson on shared priorities. A lifelong public servant and educator, Donna Shalala's career reflects the reach and responsibility of American institutions at their best: pragmatic, patient, and focused on the tangible goods of health, education, and opportunity.

Our collection contains 33 quotes who is written by Donna, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Justice - Friendship - Leadership - Learning.