She served as President of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2015. During her tenure, UM solidified its position among top U.S. research universities. The University’s two successful Momentum campaigns raised $3 billion in private support for the university’s endowment, academic and research programs and facilities. While on leave from the University of Miami, Dr. Shalala served as President of the Clinton Foundation from June 2015 to March 2017.

In 1993 President Bill 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 end of her tenure, a Washington Post article described her as “one of the most successful government managers of modern times.” In 2008 the Council on Excellence in Government named her one of the greatest public servants of the past 25 years.

She served in the Carter administration from 1977 to 1980 as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 2007, President George W. Bush handpicked Shalala to co-chair with Senator Bob Dole the Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors, to evaluate how wounded service members transition from active duty to civilian society. In 2009 she was appointed chair of the Committee on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Most recently, she was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on The Emerging Global Health Crisis. She was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations in 1982.