Florida Senate - 2015 (NP) SR 422
By Senator Garcia
38-00654-15 2015422__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution honoring a true academic, Donna Edna
3 Shalala, Ph.D., as she retires from her post as the
4 University of Miami’s fifth president after 14 years
5 of service, and recognizing her lifetime achievement
6 as an educator, an administrator, a mentor, and a
7 public servant.
8
9 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala was born on February 14, 1941,
10 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Edna Smith and James Abraham Shalala,
11 attended West Tech High School, and graduated with a Bachelor of
12 Arts degree from Western College for Women, and
13 WHEREAS, from 1962 to 1964, Donna Edna Shalala served with
14 the Peace Corps as a volunteer and, in 1970, earned her Ph.D.
15 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at
16 Syracuse University, and
17 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala began her teaching career at
18 Baruch College in New York, where she became a member of the
19 American Federation of Teachers, and
20 WHEREAS, from 1972 to 1979, Donna Edna Shalala continued
21 her career as an educator at the Teacher’s College of Columbia
22 University, and
23 WHEREAS, from 1977 to 1980, Donna Edna Shalala also served
24 as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at
25 the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
26 during the Carter Administration, and
27 WHEREAS, in 1980, Donna Edna Shalala became the 10th
28 president of Hunters College in New York, serving until 1987,
29 and
30 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala became the chancellor of the
31 University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1987, where she was the
32 second woman to lead a major research university and the first
33 woman to be the head of a Big Ten university, serving the
34 university for 6 years, and
35 WHEREAS, from 1993 to 2001, Donna Edna Shalala served as
36 Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Clinton
37 Administration, becoming the longest-tenured secretary in the
38 department’s history and the first Lebanese-American to hold a
39 Cabinet position, and
40 WHEREAS, in 2001, Donna Edna Shalala became the fifth
41 president of the University of Miami, where, in 2003, she
42 launched the “Momentum” fund-raising campaign, which generated
43 $1.4 billion in donations to the university, the first time a
44 Florida university surpassed the billion-dollar mark in such an
45 endeavor, and
46 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala has worked to expand and
47 improve the quality of education offered at the University of
48 Miami, most notably at the Miller School of Medicine, the School
49 of Law, and research departments, and
50 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala will have served as the
51 University of Miami’s president for more than 14 years by the
52 time of her retirement, and
53 WHEREAS, through Donna Edna Shalala’s determination and
54 leadership as an educator, administrator, and health care
55 expert, the University of Miami has vaulted to national
56 prominence and is now ranked among the top 50 colleges in the
57 United States, and
58 WHEREAS, Donna Edna Shalala continues her career at the
59 University of Miami by teaching a class on health care in the
60 spring semester and continuing to serve as an advocate and
61 friend to the students, faculty, and alumni of the University of
62 Miami, and
63 WHEREAS, upon her retirement from the University of Miami,
64 Donna Edna Shalala will be greatly missed by the students,
65 alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the university and the
66 Greater Miami community, and
67 WHEREAS, it is appropriate for this body to honor Donna
68 Edna Shalala for her service to the community, this state, and
69 this nation, as she retires this year, NOW, THEREFORE,
70
71 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
72
73 That we honor true academic Donna Edna Shalala, Ph.D., as
74 she retires from her post as the University of Miami’s fifth
75 president and recognize her lifetime achievement as an educator,
76 an administrator, a mentor, and a public servant.
77 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
78 the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Donna Edna
79 Shalala, Ph.D., as a tangible token of the sentiments of the
80 Florida Senate.