Donna Shalala
Donna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalalawas the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. She was the president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, from 2001 through 2015. Previously, she was the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1988 to 1993. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush in June 2008. Shalala currently serves as the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth14 February 1941
CountryUnited States of America
By putting people around me who will calm me down and slow me down and make sure I work through an issue.
We know the parental support, community support, makes a difference. It's not just the metrics of testing and putting pressure on the schools and on the teachers.
I have long ties to the women's community.
I've spent my whole life with people underestimating me.
We can't afford as a nation - not because of money but because of our social fabric - to have large numbers of people who are not working.
We have not yet concluded that needle-exchange programs do not encourage drug use.
In fairy tales, the children are saved by caring adults. We need more caring adults in the lives of our children.
Sex education has to do with what's in people's head.
I bring other constituencies - I also have ties to minority communities. And obviously, to the world of world-class research universities. So I can bring some constituencies that I'm used to working with.
I would argue that we have a generation of young people, particularly minorities, who are no longer putting up with the kinds of things their parents put up with. They're much more self-confident. It's no longer acceptable to make fun of people because of race or sex. But it has always been present in American society.
Fear drives you and makes you better.
I am interested in getting people to use the healthcare system at the right time, getting them to see the doctor early enough, before a small health problem turns serious.
You can't have a university without having free speech, even though at times it makes us terribly uncomfortable. If students are not going to hear controversial ideas on college campuses, they're not going to hear them in America. I believe it's part of their education.
The dog doesn't know the difference between Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, so I have to walk the dog early those days too.