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Home > Featured Stories > Engaging Society > March 2008 > Caring for Wounded VetsCaring for Wounded Vets
I call on Congress to enact the reforms recommended by Senator Bob Dole and Secretary Donna Shalala, so we can improve the system of care for our wounded warriors and help them build lives of hope and promise and dignity.
President George W. Bush, during his 2008 State of the Union address
Donna E. Shalala
By Dave Pond, Web Communication
On Monday, March 10, Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, will visit NC State's campus to talk about veterans' rights and health care. Shalala's presentation is the fourth and final seminar of NC State's 2007-08 Millennium Seminar Series, and is open to university students, faculty, staff as well as the general public. This is a free event, and will begin at 3 p.m. in Talley Student Center's Stewart Theater on Central Campus.
Shalala became Professor of Political Science and President of the University of Miami on June 1, 2001. President Shalala has more than 25 years of experience as an accomplished scholar, teacher, and administrator. In 1993 President Clinton appointed her U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she served for eight years, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. At the beginning of her tenure, HHS had a budget of nearly $600 billion, which included a wide variety of programs including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Child Care and Head Start, Welfare, the Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One of the country’s first Peace Corp volunteers, she served in Iran from 1962 to 1964.
As HHS Secretary, she directed the welfare reform process, made health insurance available to an estimated 3.3 million children through the approval of all State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), raised child immunization rates to the highest levels in history, led major reforms of the FDA’s drug approval process and food safety system, revitalized the National Institutes of Health, and directed a major management and policy reform of Medicare. At the end of her tenure as HHS Secretary, The Washington Post described her as “one of the most successful government managers of modern times.”
Shalala has more than three dozen honorary degrees and a host of other honors, including the 1992 National Public Service Award, the 1994 Glamour magazine Woman of the Year Award, and in 2005 was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Born in Cleveland, Shalala received her bachelor's degree in history from Western College for Women and her Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Mary P. Easley, first lady of North Carolina and a senior lecturer at NC State, coordinates the Millennium Seminars series. The series provides opportunities for students to interact with world leaders from diverse backgrounds. Presentations address world issues from the speaker's perspective, placing local and national events in a global context. The seminars are designed to engage, encourage and inspire students to reach beyond borders and think more globally about what they have learned, and what their role will be as they move into the workforce.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, NC State will honor requests for reasonable accommodations made by individuals with disabilities. Limited handicapped seating is available inside Stewart Theater. However, overflow crowds will be able to view the seminar on televisions located in the second and first floor lobbies of Talley Student Center. To make special accommodations, contact Retta Clemons or call (919) 515-2195.
