Donna Shalala G’70, H’87 to Deliver Syracuse University’s 2023 Commencement Address

Donna E. Shalala G’70, H’87, former U.S. secretary of health and human services, will deliver the keynote address during Syracuse University’s 2023 Commencement on Sunday, May 14, in the JMA Wireless Dome. The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Shalala, who is Trustee Professor of Political Science and Health Policy at the University of Miami, served as U.S. secretary of health and human services during the Clinton administration and was president of the University of Miami.

“Syracuse University is truly honored and privileged to have Donna Shalala addressing our graduates, their families and friends, and our entire University for Commencement 2023,” Chancellor Kent Syverud says. “Donna represents a long commitment to public service that is an inspiration to our graduates. She is a distinguished member of our Orange community, and I look forward to the insights and perspectives she will share with the newest class of Orange alumni.”

Donna E. Shalala G’70, H’87

Shalala, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in social science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has held prominent leadership roles in higher education and the federal government. During the Carter administration, she served as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 1993-2001, she served under the Clinton administration as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the longest-serving health and human services secretary in U.S. history.

In 2001, she was named president of the University of Miami, a post she held through August 2015. Under her leadership, the university solidified its position among top U.S. research universities. Shalala also previously served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of Hunter College (City University of New York). She has been elected to seven national academies, including the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Public Administration and the National Academy of Education.

Shalala is a member of the Maxwell Advisory Board and a staunch supporter and advocate of the Maxwell School, and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the National Public Service Award and the Harry S. Truman Legacy of Leadership Award. In 1992, BusinessWeek named her one of the top five managers in higher education and U.S. News & World Report named her one of “America’s Best Leaders” in 2005. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011 and has received more than four dozen honorary degrees (including an honorary degree from Syracuse University in 1987). She also received the George Arents Pioneer Medal, the University’s highest alumni honor, in 2015. Shalala was one of the nation’s earliest Peace Corps volunteers, working in Iran from 1962-64.

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