A distinguished educator, Donna E. Shalala is Trustee Professor of Political Science and Health Policy at the University of Miami. She was President of the University of Miami (2001-2015), Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1987-1993), and President of Hunter College of the City University of New York (1980-1987). One of the most honored academics of her generation, she has been elected to seven national academies including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She has more than five dozen honorary degrees from American and International Universities. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

One of the country’s first Peace Corps Volunteers, her public service also includes serving as Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration for eight years. In 2008 President George W. Bush selected her as the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian award. She was named “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report (2005), received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights (2010), the Radcliffe Medal (2008), and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (2011).

Professor Shalala received her A.B. from Western College for Women and her PhD from Syracuse University.