Donna Shalala
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Donna Esther Shalala (surname pronounced /ʃəˈleɪlə/; born February 14, 1941) is the current president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida. She has held this position since 2001 and was previously chancellor of the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
Prior to her appointment as University of Miami President, she served as Bill Clinton's Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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[edit] Early life
Shalala was born in Cleveland, Ohio to James and Edna Shalala. She graduated from West Tech High School and received her bachelors degree in 1962 from Western College for Women (which, in 1976, was merged with Miami University in Oxford, Ohio). Shortly after its creation, Shalala entered the Peace Corps, serving for two years in Iran from 1962 to 1964.
She received Masters and Doctorate degrees from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
[edit] Teaching career
After obtaining her doctorate from Syracuse University in 1970, Shalala taught politics at Baruch College (part of CUNY). In 1972, Shalala became a professor of politics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, a job she held until 1979.
While still a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, she served from 1977 to 1980 as the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Carter administration.
She entered academic administration in 1980 when Hunter College named her as its president. She served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin from 1987 to 1993.
[edit] Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Bill Clinton appointed Shalala United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1993. She served in this role for eight years, becoming the nation's longest serving HHS Secretary.
In this role, Shalala frequently drew criticism from political conservatives and moderates for her liberal positions. The Washington Post labeled her "one of the most controversial Clinton Cabinet nominees--one who had been branded by critics as being too liberal and politically correct."[1]
However, Shalala was also known for her fervent anti-drug stance, saying "marijuana is illegal, dangerous, unhealthy, and wrong," though a number of conservatives considered the Clinton administration's anti-drug policies weak. Shalala also expressed reservations about Hillary Clinton's health care reform plan, saying “I didn’t come here to set up a new regulatory bureaucracy in Washington.” <ref>Gergen, David (2000). Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 300. ISBN 0-68482-663-1.</ref>
[edit] University of Miami
[edit] Academic ratings
Shalala was appointed President of the University of Miami in 2001. Since her appointment, UM has made some modest progress in its national academic standing, as assessed by U.S. News & World Report, moving up 12 spots, from 66th (in 2001) to 54th (in 2006) in the magazine's "National Universities" category, though the university continues to carry a second-tier academic reputation.
UM's School of Business also has continued to rank highly, being ranked as the 44th best business school in the nation in 2006 by U.S. News and World Report. The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, affiliated with UM's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, was ranked the best hospital in the nation for Ophthalmology by U.S. News and World Report in 2006. In the 2006-07 academic year, under Shalala, 19,000 prospective students applied to UM. Of these, 8,360, or 44 percent, were admitted and 2,000, or 24 percent of those admitted, accepted.
[edit] Overseeing the deterioration of the UM football dynasty
The university's football team, once a dynasty and helpful to the university in generating positive national attention, prestige and alumni giving and other funds, has deteriorated under Shalala's leadership.
The university won four national championships in the 18 years prior to Shalala's arrival, more than any other Division I program. While UM did win the national championship in 2001 (Shalala's first semester as UM President), it has deteriorated substantially since, losing the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl in 2002 and, since then, attending mostly second-tier bowl games (the Orange Bowl in 2003, and, in 2004 and again in 2005, the Chick-fil-A Bowl), losing the 2005 Chick-fil-A-Bowl game 40-3, the team's worst loss in seven years.
In 2006, for the first time in nearly a decade, the team fell from the Associated Press's "Top 25", going 6-6 for the season. One of those wins was against a winless Duke University team that came only on a last-minute UM field goal that spared UM what could have been the most embarrassing loss in the university's history. The team's losses were so shockingly disappointing that they prompted speculation about the job security of the team's coach, Larry Coker.
As a final sign of the apparent dysfunction and lack of communication between Shalala and the football program, Coker told an ESPN reporter following the team's final game of the 2006 season that he was fairly certain he would return as head coach for UM's 2007 season. Less than 24 hours later, Shalala fired him without any explanation whatsoever of why she felt the program had disintegrated on her watch.
[edit] Failing to act on custodial wages, prompting a strike
In early 2006, under Shalala's leadership, the university was involved in a hugely controversial custodial workers' strike, a dispute between the university's then non-unionized custodial workers (now represented by the SEIU labor union) and the university's contractor, UNICCO. The strike, which lasted from February 28 to May 1, 2006, generated extensive campus and off-campus criticism of UM and UNICCO's labor relationship with its UM-based custodians. Shalala drew criticism from some striking workers and protesters for appearing to take the side of UM's contractor on how a union vote should be taken and for not acting earlier to prevent the strike, following the publication of a report that had clearly revealed UM's custodial workers not earning a living wage. Still, Shalala failed to act until the strike forced her involvement.
It should be noted that Shalala did not posses direct control over any of the issues for which the UNICCO workers protested, and that some workers chose not to protest at all. Also after some pressure from Shalala, UNICCO granted partial raises and benefits to its workers; however the union supporters elected to continue the strike (their demands not being met), causing disruptions in UM life, most notably their occupation of the Ashe Administration Building, where Shalala’s office was located, and disrupting Shalala's own class.
[edit] Personal
Shalala is Jewish and of Lebanese descent. She has never been married and has no children.
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- Donna Shalala at the Notable Names Database.
- Donna Shalala biography at the University of Miami Web Site.
- Donna Shalala page at University of Miami Web Site.
- Donna Shalala: "Let them Eat Mangoes", Wonkette, February 17, 2006.
- "While Shalala Lives in Luxury, Janitors Struggle, The Miami Herald, March 1, 2006.
- "America's Best Leaders: Q&A with Donna Shalala, President of the University of Miami, U.S. News & World Report, October 22, 2005.
| Preceded by: Bernard Cecil Cohen | Chancellor University of Wisconsin-Madison 1987–1993 | Succeeded by: David Ward |
| Preceded by: Louis W. Sullivan | U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services 1993–2001 | Succeeded by: Tommy Thompson |
| Preceded by: Tad Foote | President of the University of Miami 2001-Present | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services
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| Harris • Schweiker • Heckler • Bowen • Sullivan • Shalala • Thompson • Leavitt |
Categories: 1941 births | Living people | Alumnae of women's colleges | American university presidents | Arab Americans | City University of New York people | Columbia University alumni | Lebanese Americans | Miami University alumni | People from Cleveland | Roman Catholics | Syracuse University alumni | United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services | University of Miami | University of Wisconsin-Madison
