DON NA E . SH A L A L A THE MARK OF HISTORIC LEADERSHIP
I N A U G U R AT I O N
AFTER COMPLETING AN EIGHT-YEAR TERM AS SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, THE LONGEST IN HISTORY, DONNA E. SHALALA BECAME THE FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IN JUNE 2001.
“I’M HERE, LET’S GO”
Described by The Washington Post as “one of the most successful government managers of modern times,” Shalala brought her Beltway savvy and prior academic experience as president of Hunter College and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the University of Miami at a critical point. At the time of her inauguration, the nation was still reeling from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, acts that bolstered our resolve to protect the freedoms we hold so dear. “As the intellectual guardians of open democratic societies,” she said, “we must commit ourselves to excellence in everything we do....If the University does its part to sow the seeds of excellence, the world will know that intellectual freedom is strong and unbowed in our country. At the same time, we will stand with the nation’s best universities.” Today the University of Miami indeed stands among the nation’s top research universities. Its meteoric climb in academics, research, and service to local and global communities is the result of President Shalala’s artfully planned, strategically executed commitment to quality. Her impact has elevated every aspect of the U—and will continue to drive progress for generations to come.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
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PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
I N A U G U R AT I O N
IN HER INAUGURATION SPEECH ON NOVEMBER 2, 2001, TITLED “MIAMI ES EL MUNDO” (MIAMI IS THE WORLD), PRESIDENT SHALALA EXPLAINED THAT HER PURPOSE HERE WOULD NOT BE TO REINVENT THE UNIVERSITY BUT RATHER TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY THAT BEGAN IN 1925 WHEN THE UNIVERSITY “OPENED FOR BUSINESS AS AN EDUCATIONAL GATEWAY TO LATIN AMERICA” AND TO INTRODUCE “A NEW AND MORE EXPANSIVE VIEW OF WHO WE ARE AND WHAT OUR MISSION SHOULD BE.” UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
TRANSFORMING THE U PRESIDENT SHALALA’S PLEDGE TO LEAD THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI INTO A NEW ERA OF EXCELLENCE CALLED FOR SWEEPING CHANGE, A MOMENTOUS ENDEAVOR FUELED BY A $3 BILLION FUNDRAISING ACHIEVEMENT. The line items on her list—recruiting world-renowned faculty scholars, enriching student life, building new facilities, and much more—would require a significant financial investment. No school in Florida had ever raised $1 billion in a single campaign, but that’s exactly what the University endeavored to do in 2003 when it launched Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami. This historic fundraising drive surpassed its goal a year and a half ahead of schedule, reaching $1.4 billion by the end of 2007. Included among several landmark campaign gifts were a $100 million gift that named the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and a $30 million gift that named the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music. Momentum had a truly transformational impact on the University, and as the campaign’s name implies, the wheels of progress showed no signs of slowing. In 2012 the University announced Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami, which would raise an additional $1.6 billion by 2015 for an unprecedented $3 billion total, despite the formidable obstacle of a global economic recession. Major gifts included a $100 million lead gift from the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation
In 2004 the University’s medical school was renamed the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, honoring a $100 million gift during the Momentum fundraising campaign from the family of the late South Florida businessman and philanthropist Leonard M. Miller.
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TRANSFORMING THE U
to support diabetes research and $50 million from The Lennar Foundation to create a new medical center on the Coral Gables campus. In fiscal year 2002 the University’s endowment stood at $427 million. Through a combination of two successful fundraising campaigns and astute fiscal management throughout varying market conditions, the University more than doubled the endowment to reach $865 million by fiscal year 2014. Operating revenues increased from $1.085 billion to $2.575 billion during this period.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE U The University of Miami had been known as “The U” since the 1970s, but until 2009, the iconic orange-and-green split-U logo was primarily an athletics mark. In an astute move, President Shalala approved an overhaul of the University’s visual identity, converting one of the most recognizable brands in national collegiate athletics into a symbol of excellence throughout the entire University. The split-U replaced the previous University of Miami “bar” logo and immediately affirmed that the University had established itself as a dynamic, confident academic and research powerhouse. Each day the power of the U is reinforced—whether by alumni and fans who proudly flash the U with their hands or by students who touch the U statue on the Coral Gables campus for a little extra luck on their way to class. Much more than a visual identity, the U is a heartfelt bond between generations of Hurricanes.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY UPON TAKING THE HELM OF ONE OF THE LARGEST PRIVATE RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES, PRESIDENT SHALALA MADE IT HER MISSION TO
“SECURE THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI’S PLACE AS THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN RESEARCH UNIVERSITY.” SHE
News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” list in the guide’s 2010 edition and has remained in the top tier ever since. Its 2014 national ranking of No. 47 represented a 20-point rise since 2001. U.S. News also consistently ranks several UM graduate programs in the annual “America’s Best Graduate Schools” guide. Working closely with the University Curriculum Committee and Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education William Scott Green, President Shalala helped
SUCCESSFULLY LEVERAGED THE U’S BOLD, NEW SENSE OF SELF AND UNPRECEDENTED PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT TO ELEVATE ITS PROFILE TO NATIONAL HEIGHTS.
to rethink and reshape the undergraduate curriculum
AC A DE M IC ACH I E V E M E N TS
With more than 180 academic majors and programs, the
into the Cognates Program of General Education. Students now have the freedom to explore multiple interests across nine undergraduate schools and two graduate professional schools, forging unique interdisciplinary pathways that will prepare them for a nonlinear, globally connected world.
Between 2001 and 2014, the University’s academic excellence reached an all-time high, as indicated by the following:
University now offers more areas of study than any other
MEAN SAT SCORES
to an advanced degree, as well as unique interdisciplinary
1190
1320
2001
14,700
2001
FRESHMAN RETENTION RATE 82% 92.6% ’01
’14
31,600
SIX-YEAR GRADUATION RATE
’01
several dual-degree programs that accelerate the route
degree program, beginning with master’s degrees 2014
63%
private university of comparable size. Among these are
programs. In 2014 the University launched its online
2014
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
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The University earned its first-ever top-50 spot on U.S.
81% ’14
in finance, sport administration, music business and entertainment industries, and arts presenting and live entertainment management. Recruiting and retaining stellar faculty and leadership also was a key priority for President Shalala, and she
T H E N E X T G R E AT A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y
succeeded in attracting some of the sharpest minds
career development activities, seminars, networking
to the U. The University gained nearly 500 additional
events, mentoring, and more.
full-time faculty members during her 14 years, and opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities
President Shalala recognized that the University’s location
became more plentiful. In response to Beyond Bias and
in the “gateway to the Americas” carries a responsibility to
Barriers, an eye-opening 2006 report published by a
unite scholars and scientists from around the world. She
National Academies committee chaired by President
oversaw the creation of several centers and institutes,
Shalala, the University created a SEEDS (Scientists and
including the Center for Hemispheric Policy, Abess
Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success) program to
Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, Center for
support women and minority faculty members through
the Humanities, and others.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
BUILDING A RESEARCH ENTERPRISE BROADENING THE UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH PORTFOLIO IS ANOTHER WAY PRESIDENT SHALALA HAS SPURRED POSITIVE CHANGE FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD.
IN FISCAL YEAR 2014 THE UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH AND SPONSORED PROGRAM EXPENDITURES TOTALED $331 MILLION TO SUPPORT
SOME 2,100 EXTRAMURALLY FUNDED PROJECTS, COMPARED WITH $202 MILLION IN RESEARCH IN 2001. The University received more than $108 million in National Institutes of Health funding in 2014, making its Miller School of Medicine and School of Nursing and Health Studies the top NIH-funded medical and nursing schools in the state. From environmental health and lifesaving biomedical breakthroughs to strengthening underserved communities and improving infrastructure, discoveries made by University of Miami faculty and students in every discipline are truly making the world a better place.
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N EW FR A M ES OF R E FE R E NCE
The foundation of a great research university is its library system, and President Shalala’s support of the University of Miami Libraries facilitated an ambitious effort to digitize and deepen important collections. With holdings surpassing 3.7 million volumes and 83,000 current electronic and print serials, the UM Libraries has become one of the top 50 research library systems in North America.
BUILDING A RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
Tangible effects of the University’s investment in science and technology emerge every day at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS), which provides scientists and governments around the world with real-time, high-resolution satellite imagery of the eastern United States, Caribbean, Central America, and a portion of South America. Launched in 2003, CSTARS was instrumental in assessing Hurricane Katrina damage, coordinating earthquake response efforts in Haiti, and monitoring the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
President Shalala enabled the University to become a research powerhouse that advances science and technology in profound ways. From left are W. Dalton Dietrich, scientific director of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis; researchers in the “clean room” of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute; and Professor Antonio Nanni, center, with College of Engineering students.
Supercharging UM’s scholarly activities is the Center for Computational Science, which hosts one of the largest centralized academic cyber infrastructures in the country. Capable of performing trillions of calculations per second, the center’s computing power enables climatologists, economists, engineers, geneticists, and even musicians to take on grand-scale projects that could help answer some of the 21st century’s most urgent questions.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
WORLD-CLASS CARE WHEN PRESIDENT SHALALA ARRIVED AT THE U AFTER EIGHT YEARS AS SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, SHE BROUGHT HER PASSION FOR HEALTH CARE TO MIAMI. TODAY
UHEALTH-UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HEALTH SYSTEM IS THE ANCHOR OF THE MIAMI HEALTH DISTRICT, A WORLD-
CLASS HEALTH CARE HUB THAT BENEFITS PEOPLE FAR BEYOND THE CITY’S BOUNDARIES.
The UHealth enterprise includes the flagship 560-bed University of Miami Hospital—the only university-owned and -operated teaching hospital in Florida, as well as Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and more than 30 outpatient facilities in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Collier counties, staffed by more than 1,500 of the nation’s best physicians and scientists. Launched in 2007, UHealth is now one of the most respected health providers in South Florida. Made possible through a $50 million lead gift from The Lennar Foundation, UHealth will soon broaden the community’s access to first-rate care via The Lennar Foundation Medical Center, a 200,000-square-foot ambulatory center slated to open on the University’s Coral Gables campus in 2016. Bascom Palmer, which has been ranked on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list as the No. 1 eye hospital in the nation for 11 years in a row, is gearing up to open new facilities in Naples, Florida, and Abu Dhabi. Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center became a state-designated Cancer Center of Excellence in 2015.
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The University’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine has grown rapidly over the past 14 years, earning international acclaim for research, clinical care, and biomedical innovation. Under the guidance of Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, students and faculty-physicians are saving lives and pioneering medical breakthroughs at UHealth and affiliated locations, including Jackson Memorial Hospital. President Shalala has strengthened the school’s longstanding partnership with JMH through the Public Health Trust, ensuring the entire community can receive access to excellent care regardless of financial means.
Slated to open on the University’s Coral Gables campus in 2016, The Lennar Foundation Medical Center will expand the South Florida community’s access to UHealth-University of Miami Health System’s world-class network of physicians and services.
The Miller School’s research enterprise has grown
world-renowned researchers. The Christine E. Lynn
significantly since 2006 with the creation of the John P.
Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure
Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, the Dr. John
Paralysis at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial
T. Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology
Medical Center, which celebrated its groundbreaking
Institute at UM (BioNIUM), and the Interdisciplinary
in 2015, will enhance The Miami Project’s leading-edge
Stem Cell Institute. All three institutes are headed by
research and service to the community.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
A UNIVERSITY ON THE RISE
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A UNIVERSITY ON THE RISE
PRESIDENT SHALALA’S TERM HAS SEEN AN UNPRECEDENTED
GROWTH IN FACILITIES TOTALING ALMOST $2 BILLION OF NEW CONSTRUCTION AND 2.7 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF PROJECTS COMPLETED OR IN PROGRESS, PLUS
1.9 MILLION OF EXISTING SQUARE FEET RENOVATED.
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
Toppel Career Center
Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence
New Construction
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Herbert Wellness Center
1300 Campo Sano Cox Science Annex James M. Cox Jr. Science Building Arthur A. Ungar Building Cox Science Plaza Goizueta Pavilion at the Otto G. Richter Library Oscar E. Dooly Memorial Classroom Building M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies Communication International Building George E. Whitten Learning Center Frances L. Wolfson Building Patricia Louise Frost Music Studios, North and South Rehearsal Center Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library and Technology Center Donna E. Shalala Student Center Norman A. Whitten University Center Lakeside Patio Stage University Village Theodore G. and Todd G. Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center Intramural Building Hecht-Stanford Dining Hall Labyrinth Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center Studio Arts Building 1535 Levante Avenue
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Major Renovations/Additions
Max Orovitz Building Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Building Alex Rodriguez Park Ponce de Leon Garage Fred C. and Helen D. Flipse Building The Lennar Foundation Medical Center (under construction) Central Energy Plant (under construction) BankUnited Center Fieldhouse Pavia Garage Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion at the Lowe Art Museum Mahoney-Pearson Dining Hall Patricia and Harold Toppel Career Center Braman Miller Center for Jewish Student Life Mahoney-Pearson Parking Garage
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Glassell SUSTAIN Building
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Alfred C. Glassell Jr. SUSTAIN Building and Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Complex R I C K E N B A C K E R C A U S E WA Y
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Life Science & Technology Park
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University of Miami Hospital
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University of Miami Hospital Acquisition NW 14th Street Median Landscaping Don Soffer Family Clinical Research Center Batchelor Children’s Research Institute Biomedical Research Building Triangle Park Two-Story Lab 15th Street Parking Garage 15th Street Central Energy Plant Life Science & Technology Park - Phase I Life Science & Technology Park Land Acquisition
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Donna E. Shalala Student
t Center
A UNIVERSITY ON THE RISE
The Rathskeller
Starbucks
Student Organization Suite
Lakeside
Donna E. Shalala Student Center
DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
ONE OF PRESIDENT SHALALA’S
FIRST ORDERS OF BUSINESS
WAS TO POPULATE THE CAMPUSES WITH OUTDOOR FURNITURE— SOME SWINGING, SOME FIXED, ALL DESIGNED TO FOSTER ACTIVITY AND INTERACTION. HER DEDICATION TO STUDENTS IS EXTRAORDINARY, AND SHE ESTABLISHED A CAMPUS
CULTURE THAT CELEBRATES LIFE, LEARNING, DIVERSITY, AND HURRICANE PRIDE.
ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE Ranked No. 6 in the nation by The Princeton Review’s The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition for Race/Class Interaction, the campus reflects President Shalala’s commitment to enriching the student experience with the voices and viewpoints of myriad cultures, nationalities, religions, races, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. She electrified the campus with new outdoor artwork, including the revered split-U statue on the Foote University Green, and the installment of green and orange hammocks on the palms of McLamore Plaza during finals week. She made it a priority to reduce the University’s environmental
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ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
footprint with programs such as the multifaceted Green
introduced on the Coral Gables campus. She embraced
U conservation program, Zipcar car-sharing service,
the nation’s food truck fascination by inviting a rotating
and bike-friendly campus upgrades. She was one of the
selection of trucks on campus and satisfied coffee
first signatories of the historic American College and
cravings by adding two Starbucks franchises. In 2015 the
University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.
University completed a Dining Master Plan that had been in the works since 2011. The transformation turned the
Starting in 2012, the walkway along the Foote University
dining halls in the Hecht-Stanford and Mahoney-Pearson
Green has been home to the weekly Well ’Canes Farmers
residential colleges into a restaurant-like experience in
Market, where some 25 vendors sell locally grown
a dynamic, market-style environment. The Hurricane
produce, baked goods, and other tasty treats. The
Food Court also received a design overhaul with several
market is one of many new options President Shalala
new and healthy options.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
BRINGING THE WORLD TO THE U President Shalala knows that attending live events featuring today’s greatest leaders has eye-opening benefits, particularly for university students. She
John Roberts
orchestrated some of the most memorable activities to ever take place at
Sonia Sotomayor
the U, always making sure students had priority access. One opportunity that placed the University of Miami on the international stage was the first 2004 presidential debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry, held on the Coral Gables campus. Some 63 million people tuned in to watch this live broadcast, and President Shalala ensured that students received the majority of the University’s allotted audience seats. A yearlong, politically energizing series of events called A Celebration of Democracy and Diversity supplemented the debate. Three years later the University partnered with the Univision network to host the first-ever nationally televised presidential debates targeting Spanish speakers. During the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama and John McCain made campaign stops at the University.
Maya Angelou
Barack Obama
John McCain
In 2012 UM was the only university in the country to be visited twice by the candidates of both major political parties: President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Other honorable guests over the years have included U.S. Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, and Anthony M. Kennedy; autism advocate Temple Grandin; filmmaker Spike Lee; former U.S. Vice President Al Gore; primatologist Jane Goodall; poet Maya Angelou; and many others. In 2010 and 2015, the University hosted the Clinton Global Initiative University, bringing the nation’s top student leaders, university representatives, and topic experts together to develop innovative solutions for pressing global challenges.
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Dalai Lama
Bill Clinton
ENRICHING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
ATHLETICS Excellence in UM athletics continued under President Shalala, both on the playing field and in the classrooms. In 2001 football and baseball earned national championship titles. In 2004 the ’Canes left the Big East Conference to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, bringing tougher competition and expanded academic resources. Men’s basketball captured the 2012-13 regular season title and the 2013 ACC Tournament, while women’s tennis won the 2013 ACC Tournament and 2014 regular season title. ACC regular season titles went to baseball in 2014 and women’s basketball in 2011. Other teams reached national finals, including men’s tennis, women’s track and field, and volleyball.
Several ’Canes athletics teams won national championships or reached finals under President Shalala including, from left, baseball, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball.
One of the most telling examples of President Shalala’s influence on Hurricanes athletics is the steady rise over the past decade in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR), as measured by the NCAA. Every athletics team registered an APR score of 960 or better out of a possible 1,000 points, with nine teams scoring 990 or better. With a 92 percent GSR in 2014, the University ranked No. 8 among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. Created to honor the president’s mother on the occasion of her 100th birthday, the Edna C. Shalala Fund for Women’s Athletics helps support the continued success of women’s teams at UM. She passed away at 103 in December 2014, shortly before the inaugural Edna C. Shalala 5K Run/Walk to benefit the fund.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
IMPACT THROUGH OUTREACH PRESIDENT SHALALA INCLUDED YET ANOTHER PLEDGE AT HER INAUGURATION: DEVELOP THE
UNIVERSITY’S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. “I BRING WITH ME A MIDWESTERN NOTION,” SHE SAID, “THAT PRIVATE AND PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES MUST INCORPORATE IN THEIR MISSIONS PUBLIC SERVICE.” True to her word, the president placed service-learning at the core of the University’s charge to develop students’ leadership skills and capacity to solve realworld problems. In the 2013-14 academic year, the UM community completed a record-high 146,000 hours of service through the Office of Civic and Community Engagement—created in 2011 to leverage the University’s academic resources in addressing topics such as urban and environmental sustainability, youth empowerment, and good governing practices—and the William R. Butler Center for Volunteer Service and Leadership Development, which maintains a database of some 600 community partners eager for student volunteerism. For its commitment to advancing the civic purpose of higher education, the University received two Florida Campus Compact awards in 2014 and a prestigious Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation in 2015.
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PA RT N E R I N PROSPE R I T Y
Economic vitality throughout South Florida is another beneficiary of President Shalala’s astute leadership. A 2012 report from an independent firm demonstrated that the University, one of the largest employers in Miami-Dade County, has an annual economic impact of $5.62 billion on Miami-Dade County and an impact of $6.1 billion on the tri-county (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach) region. University and student annual expenditures in the tri-county region create some 43,000 jobs and more than $150 million in revenues to state and local governments. The University deepens its impact on the community each year through an annual United Way campaign that is consistently one of the most successful universitybased United Way fundraising drives in the nation.
IMPACT THROUGH OUTREACH
One of the most profound ways the University under President Shalala made an impact is in its service to Haiti. Led by UM neurosurgeon Barth Green, who cofounded Project Medishare for Haiti more than two decades ago, a team of UM emergency medical responders arrived in the island nation less than 24 hours after the January 12, 2010 earthquake. Since then, nearly every school and college established new programs, or expanded longstanding UM initiatives in Haiti, that continue to help Haitians recover and rebuild in sustainable ways.
Service to the Nation Forever devoted to public service, Donna Shalala answered her nation’s call again and again while serving as president of the U. In 2007 she and Senator Bob Dole led the Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors, and in 2009 she chaired the Committee on the Future of Nursing, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Institute of Medicine effort to help the nursing profession meet the challenges of a changing health care landscape. She also has been one of the leading voices for expanding affordability and access of care for all citizens. For these contributions and a lifetime of service and leadership, she has received countless honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation’s highest civilian honor) and the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. Her work in national health care contributed greatly to the University’s own pipeline of progress. At the School of Nursing and Health Studies, for example, several new programs were introduced in response to recommendations of the landmark report she helped to compile, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.
In 2008, Donna E. Shalala received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.
International regions in need also benefit from President Shalala’s advocacy of the Peace Corps. The president served in Iran from 1962 to 1964 as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers. She maintained an open-door policy to advise any student considering the Peace Corps, and today the University is one of the nation’s top 25 schools for producing Peace Corps volunteers. The Launch Pad, which opened in 2008, is another initiative that serves the community. Alumni and students who have ideas for new businesses receive guidance, encouragement, and access to a dedicated local commercial network. The Launch Pad’s model
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for supporting entrepreneurship became part of a White House strategy to expand innovation and job creation in several regions across the country.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
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DONNA E. SHALALA
PR ESIDENT 2001–2015
CONNECTING ’CANES FOR LIFE The University of Miami Alumni Association reached a pinnacle of strength and connectedness under President Shalala. Despite her busy schedule as president and a political science professor, she traveled across the country and to several international cities during the Impact of U tour. Her message that “something amazing happens when those of us who bleed orange and green unite together” reinforced a guiding principle: Every alumnus is a ’Cane for Life. This steadfast relationship between the University and its 166,000 living alumni, who reside in all 50 states and 154 countries, resulted in unprecedented levels of alumni engagement and philanthropy. During President Shalala’s tenure, alumni donated more than $769 million to the University, including $309 million in student scholarships and support.
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An Enduring Honor It is impossible to wholly capture the indelible mark President Shalala leaves on the University of Miami, both in goals accomplished and in establishing a culture of excellence that continues to inspire every member of the UM family. Through the generosity of the Fairholme Foundation, the University’s gratitude for her historic leadership will live in perpetuity by the renaming of the Student Activities Center. The Donna E. Shalala Student Center, as it is now called, is a landmark building on the Coral Gables campus that has invigorated student life in unprecedented ways. It is a worthy and an enduring tribute to the University’s fifth president, who always made the intellectual, physical, and emotional vitality of students her top priority.
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