About Donna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalala ( shə-LAY-lə; born February 14, 1941) is an American retired politician and academic. She served in the Carter and Clinton administrations. From 2019 to 2021, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida's 27th congressional district for a single term before losing re-election. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Shalala received a bachelor's degree in 1962 and served in the Peace Corps before earning a PhD from Syracuse University in 1970. She subsequently held faculty positions at Baruch College and Columbia University, and was appointed Assistant Secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter. She served as president of Hunter College from 1980 to 1988, then as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. From 1993 to 2001, she served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton — the longest tenure in that role — and was the first Lebanese-American to hold a Cabinet position. She subsequently served as president of the University of Miami (2001–2015) and the Clinton Foundation (2015–2017). In 2008, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Shalala was first elected to Congress in 2018. She served one term before losing re-election in 2020 to María Elvira Salazar in an upset. Shalala was interim president of The New School in New York City from 2023 to 2024. Shalala is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she was awarded in 2008.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.