Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, has announced that she will step down at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. She was named the fifth president of the university in 2001. She also served as a professor of political science at the university and will continue in that role after stepping down as president.
During the Clinton administration Dr. Shalala served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years. Earlier in her career, she was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of Hunter College of the City University of New York.
Dr. Shalala is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and earned a bachelor’s degree in history at the Western College for Women, now part of Miami University of Ohio. She holds a Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
In a letter to the university community, President Shalala said that collectively we have accomplished what we set out to do — secure the University of Miami’s place as the next great American research university. The trustees have my deepest gratitude for their courage in letting me take the University on a journey of excellence that was promising, but risky. It is so easy to stand still. Pursuing greatness is not for the meek or cautious.”