U.S.

Shalala To Head Univ. Of Miami

November 18, 2000 / 11:41 AM EST / AP

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala announced Saturday that she will become president of the University of Miami, after eight years in President Clinton's Cabinet.

"I welcome the opportunity to get out of government and get back to higher education," said Shalala, the longest-serving HHS secretary.

She replaces Edward T. "Tad" Foote II - who is retiring after 19 years - June 1, 2001.

Search committee member Charles Cobb, ambassador to Iceland under former President George Bush, said he first contacted Shalala about the job about 45 days ago. Negotiations ended Friday, but details of the contract were not released.

Shalala, 59, has led HHS since Mr. Clinton took office in 1993. The first Cabinet member to announce post-administration plans, she will remain until the president's term ends on Jan. 20.

"She is a talented manager and an energetic leader who will bring great experience to the task of leading the university, its students, its faculty and its alumni," Mr. Clinton said in a written statement from Vietnam, where he is wrapping up a three-day trip.

"I have no doubt she will be a real asset to the university and its community."

Shalala, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin from 1987 until she joined Clinton's Cabinet. Before that, she was president of Hunter College in New York.

The University of Miami is a private school with 13,963 students and four campuses.

Shalala said she accepted the university's offer "because they have the best and most energetic students in the country."

"I now understand why the University of Miami is so good at football," she said. "They know how to recruit."

Shalala was also approached by Brown University, which just hired Ruth Simmons, the president of Smith College who will be the first black to lead an Ivy League school. Shalala was looking for a larger institution and did not pursue Brown, an administration official said earlier Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

As HHS secretary, Shalala has overseen health and welfare policy for the government while running a department with 61,000 employees. That includes the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and all welfare, child care and child welfare programs.

She has implemented sweeping welfare reform legislation that set strict new time limits and work requirements and a new program to provide health insurance to children in working poor families. She also worked to combat fraud in Medicare and extend the long-term solvency of the health insurance program for seniors.

Shalala helped build support for a patients bill of rights to give patients and doctors more power in negotiating with health insurance companies, though Congress has yet to approve legislation.

She also tried but failed to win passage of sweeping tobacco legislation that would have raise tobacco taxes and set new restrictions on cigarette marketing.