An Interview with Donna Shalala

Abstract

Biography Donna E. Shalala became the fifth President of the University of Miami on June 1, 2001. President Shalala has more than 25 years' experience as an accomplished scholar, teacher, and administrator. She is also a professor of political science, epidemiology and public health, and education. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, President Shalala received her A.B. in history from Western College degree from The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. A leading scholar on the political economy of state and local governments, she has held tenured professorships at Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), and the University of Wisconsin. She served as president of Hunter College of CUNY from 1980 to 1987 and as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1987 to 1993. In 1993 President Clinton appointed her Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she served for eight years, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. At the beginning of her tenure, HHS had a budget of nearly $600 billion, which included a wide variety of programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Child Care and Head Start, Welfare, the Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As HHS Secretary, she directed the welfare reform process, made health insurance available to an estimated 3.3 million children through the approval of all State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), raised child immunization rates to the highest levels in history, led major reforms of the FDA's drug approval process and food safety system, revitalized the National Institutes of Health, and directed a major management and policy reform of Medicare. At the end of her tenure as HHS Secretary, The Washington Post described her as of the most successful government managers of modern times. Before becoming HHS Secretary, President Shalala served as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She led what was then the nation's largest public research university, raising more than $400 million for the university's endowment, and spearheaded a $225 million state-private partnership program to renovate and add to the university's research facilities. In 1992 Business Week named her one of the top five managers in higher education. She joined the Carter administration as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 1980, she assumed the presidency of Hunter College, City University of New York. She is a Director of Gannett Co., Inc. (an international news and information company in the print, television, and Internet industries), UnitedHealth Group (a diversified health and well-being enterprise), the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Lennar Corporation (a home-building company). She was recently selected for ex officio membership in The Florida Council of 100. President Shalala has more than three dozen honorary degrees and a host of other honors, including the 1992 National Public Service Award and the 1994, Glamour magazine Woman of the Year Award. She has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and has been elected to the National Academy of Education; the National Academy of Public Administration; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the National Academy of Social Insurance; The American Academy of Political and Social Science; and the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Interview Nance Lucas: Looking back at all your various leadership positions and roles that you've had, what would you say are some of the leadership lessons that occurred over time? Donna Shalala: I certainly matured as a leader. Lesson one - don't jump on every issue immediately just because it looks like you have to make that decision immediately because you may not have to. …