une 1, 2001, was a landmark day for the University of Miami. Donna E. Shalala, former Secretary for Health and Human Services for eight years during the Clinton Administration, took office as the University’s fifth president. Self-described as decisive, consensus-building, impatient, focused, and enthusiastic, she brings a wealth of experience and energy to the job.

Her career includes 25 years as a teacher, scholar, and educational administrator. An authority on the political economy of state and local governments, she has held tenured professorships at Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served as president of Hunter College of CUNY from 1980 to 1987, and as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1987 to 1993.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, President Shalala received her bachelor’s degree from Western College for Women and her Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She was among the first group to enroll in the Peace Corps in 1962, volunteering for two years in Iran. She credits the experience as “life-shaping,” making her a world citizen and internationalist.

President Shalala has been noted widely for her talent in managing large places. At Wisconsin, she led what was then the nation’s largest public research university, raised more than $400 million for the endowment, and spearheaded a $225 million state-private partnership program to enhance the university’s research facilities. In 1992 BusinessWeek named her one of the top five managers in higher education.

As HHS Secretary, President Shalala oversaw a wide variety of programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, child care and Head Start, welfare, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Throughout her career, President Shalala has worked to better the lives of young people. In a recent interview with Miami magazine, she talked about her commitment to students and her plans for the University of Miami.

After serving eight years as HHS Secretary, you were a candidate to lead some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. What attracted you to the presidency of the University of Miami?
The University of Miami simply had all of the elements: a private university that serves in the public interest, a dynamic community, international flavor, and great schools—including medicine, marine biology, and architecture. These schools have made enormous contributions not only to the local community, but more importantly to the nation and to the world. The University may not have had the prestige of some of the other institutions, but it clearly had the potential to be just as good. It’s a university that’s on the move, and its leaders have done a wonderful job to reposition the University of Miami as one of the major research universities in this country. I also was looking for a place that wanted to get better—that didn’t think it was perfect. And frankly the trustees, led by Carlos de la Cruz and Chuck Cobb, did a hard sell.

Do you miss Washington, D.C., and being in the middle of politics?
No. Been there, done that.

You’ve characterized the South Florida area as a “great college town.” Could you elaborate?
I see it very much like Boston. There are lots of universities and small colleges here and lots of part-time jobs. So it’s a great place for young people to work and go to school. The community is interesting and exciting. Also, there are many young people here. People have this impression that Florida is filled with people who are over 65. It’s not true.

I believe that colleges and universities are great industries to have in your community. They’re good employers; they don’t pollute the air. They keep you young because you have waves of young people coming in. For a community that doesn’t have a lot of large corporations, universities are a good employment base. They withstand recessions. When the economy worsens, more people return to higher education to work.

You bring considerable expertise in the sciences. You’ve mentioned bringing the School of Medicine to the forefront of medical research.
Which is exactly what the leadership of the School of Medicine—in fact, the entire faculty—wants to do. I’m just going to be their partner in doing it.

What other academic areas at the University of Miami, in your view, hold particular strength and potential for further development?
They all do. Each has its own strategy. The School of Architecture has an international reputation and is led by a brilliant dean who has made an important intellectual contribution to our understanding of communities: New Urbanism is the talk of not only this nation, but the world. I think marine science is a unique school, and we’ve been hiding its light under a bushel for too long. UM is an important interdisciplinary research institution, and I intend to pay attention. I’m pleased to be at a university that has schools of music, communication, and international studies—things that I’m interested in. I’m a jazz fan, so I’m particularly pleased with our first-class jazz program. A lot of my focus, though, is going to be on arts and sciences and on undergraduates. You cannot have a great university without at its core having a first-class undergraduate program in arts and sciences.

You helped rebuild the football program at the University of Wisconsin. Why are quality athletic programs important to a university and how do they complement the academic mission?
Every part of the University ought to be quality. I’ve been pushed very hard about whether I see a distinction between our investments in athletics and our investments in academics. My point is the same: If you have a program, it ought to be of the highest quality. I don’t make a distinction in standards. You appoint first-class leadership, you ask them to develop a strategy, and then give them the resources they need to get the job done. There are a lot of students involved in athletics at this university. I want to make sure they have the best possible experience at the University—in the same way I want students in business, communication, or music to do so. I also believe that sports create a sense of community, particularly for large universities. They bond people of all sorts of backgrounds together. At the University of Wisconsin I once pulled the list of those who had season tickets for basketball, football, and hockey. It turned out to include our most distinguished faculty members. I don’t expect it to be any different here.

You held tenured professorships at Columbia University, the City University of New York, and the University of Wisconsin. What do you think makes a great teacher?
Enthusiasm for the subject. A passion for what you are doing. The ability to communicate—to listen to students, to interact with them, and to get them involved in the subject matter. A kind of toughness. The best teachers I’ve ever had were the most demanding. They worked me to death, and it was memorable.

Do you plan to teach at UM?
At some point. I’ve always taught undergraduates when I’ve led universities. I’ll advise a couple of Ph.D. students, too. I take my tenured faculty appointment in political science seriously.

How do great research and teaching benefit each other?
I think they are inextricably bound. You clearly can have great teachers who aren’t great researchers, and great researchers who aren’t great teachers. What we’re looking for here is the scholar-teacher who does both well. We want to say to our students, when you come to a research university you are studying with someone who is creating knowledge—the kind of knowledge that goes into the textbooks of your friends at other kinds of institutions.

You’ve noted the strong diversity among our students. Why is this important for a private university?
Because we want to give our students a realistic setting in which to learn and study. The world in which they will live is going to include people from a variety of different backgrounds. Why not have that experience at a university? I also am interested in the economic mix of our student body. It’s important that private universities aren’t comprised of only very poor and very rich students. We have to make sure that our university is affordable for middle-income students. That’s the important challenge of private higher education: to enroll students from all sorts of backgrounds. That is the best kind of learning environment for our students.

What message would you like to communicate to alumni about their university?
I think they should be excited about our future. We’re getting better every day. If you look at the number of applicants for the freshman class, we’re overwhelmed. Our show rate was higher than it’s ever been. The freshman class is the best we’ve ever had.

What do you see as our alumni’s role in advancing the University of Miami?
I hope they stay involved with the University, talk about it with their friends and neighbors, and take pride in all of our accomplishments—not simply those achieved on the athletic field. People are working in their laboratories and offices making very important contributions to improving the quality of life in this country. Alums should take pride in that. I can’t promise them a national championship in every athletic area, but I can promise them that we’re going to be focused on national championships in every academic area.