January 24, 2012

Vision 2020 is pleased to announce University of Miami President and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala as the newest addition to its advisory board.

Donna E. Shalala as the newest addition to its advisory board.Vision 2020 is an initiative of the Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine to make equality a national priority through shared leadership among women and men.

Shalala has served as president of the University of Miami since 2001 and has extensive experience in higher education, serving as a tenured professor at Columbia University, the City University of New York and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later as president of Hunter College of the City University of New York and as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In 1993, President Clinton appointed Shalala U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, where she served for eight years, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights; and Glamour magazine's 1994 Woman of the Year Award. In 2011, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.

Vision 2020 Founder and Co-Chair Lynn Yeakel, director of Drexel University College of Medicine's Institute for Women's Health and Leadership, called Shalala's work inspirational. "Donna Shalala is a leader and pioneer for women and girls," Yeakel said. "Her example has contributed enormously to women's progress."

Shalala joins Vision 2020's nine other esteemed advisors: Laurel G. Bellows, Esq., president-elect, American Bar Association; Johnnetta B. Cole, PhD, president emerita of Spelman College and Bennett College for Women; Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, chair and CEO, Sunoco Inc.; Karen J. Mathis, president and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; Eileen C. McDonnell, president, The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company; Mary Patterson McPherson, PhD, executive officer, The American Philosophical Society; Anna Quindlen, writer; Cokie Roberts, author and political commentator; and Dawn M. Staley, Olympic gold medalist, head coach, University of South Carolina Women's Basketball.

Vision 2020's Sponsors
The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company is the Presenting Sponsor of Vision 2020. The Exelon Foundation is a Visionary Sponsor.