When Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala arrives at Berkeley to deliver the 1995 Charter Day keynote speech April 28, she'll be no stranger to the campus. Shalala led the team accrediting Berkeley for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Charter Day events will kick off at 2 p.m. in the Greek Theatre.
The annual celebration of the founding of the university features traditional faculty and alumni processions, campus musical groups and a special presentation on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
Free and open to the public, the campus community--faculty, staff and students--are especially encouraged to attend. No tickets will be required.
In addition to Shalala's address, the day features the presentation of the Haas International Award to Sung-Joo Han, former foreign minister of Korea, and the California Alumni Associations' Alumnus of the Year Award to T.Y. Lin, professor emeritus of engineering.
This year, Charter Day is followed by Cal Day, a free all-day open house on Saturday, April 29. (See page 3 for a full rundown of activities).
Shalala has been an educator, a pioneer and a public servant for her entire career.
As chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1988-93, she was the first woman to head a Big Ten university. Prior to that, she served as president of Hunter College at the City University of New York for eight years.
A leading scholar on the political economy of state and local governments, Shalala has held tenured professorships at Columbia, CUNY and Wisconsin.
She is often viewed one of the nation's foremost advocates for children and families. For more than a decade, she served on the board of the Children's Defense Fund, becoming its chair in 1992.
She joined the Clinton administration in 1993. Under her leadership the Department of Health and Human Services has pursued a national preschool immunization campaign, Head Start expansion and played a leading role in efforts to implement health care reform.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, the 54-year-old Shalala received her BA from Western College for Women and her PhD from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.