Donna Edna Shalala (14 February 1941-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-FL 27) from 3 January 2019 to 3 January 2021, succeeding Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and preceding Maria Elvira Salazar. She previously served as US Secretary of Health and Human Services from 22 January 1993 to 20 January 2001, succeeding Louis Wade Sullivan and preceding Tommy Thompson.
Biography[]
Donna Edna Shalala was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1941 to a family of Maronite Lebanese descent, and she worked as a political science professor at Baruch College before serving as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Madison from 1988 to 1993. That year, she was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services in President Bill Clinton's administration, and she served in that post until 2001. She went on to serve as president of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2015 and as President of the Clinton Foundation from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, Shalala became the Democratic nominee for Florida's 27th district in the US House of Representatives, and she defeated Republican Maria Elvira Salazar. However, amid a surge in Cuban and Venezuelan support for Donald Trump in 2020, Shalala lost re-election to Salazar in a close rematch.