Donna Shalala, former Clinton cabinet secretary, suffers stroke

Former University of Miami President Donna Shalala is recovering after suffering a stroke.

Shalala, 74, a former US secretary of health and human services who served in Clinton’s administration during the 1990s, was named president and chief executive officer of the foundation in March.

Clinton Foundation President Donna Shalala suffered a stroke Tuesday following a Clinton Global Initiative event in New York.

“Fortunately she was with colleagues at the time and taken to the hospital for treatment”, Bill and Chelsea Clinton said.

She suffered a stroke while she was with friends Tuesday evening, Clinton said in a statement early Wednesday. She became UW-Madison’s chancellor in 1988, and was first woman to head a Big Ten university and the second woman to lead a major research university, according to the university’s website.

She served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services while Bill Clinton was president from 1993 to 2001, and stepped down as UM president August 16 after 14 years. We are in continuous contact with her physicians in New York.

UM’s President Julio Frenk, who took over for Shalala’s position in September, issued a statement wishing her a full recovery.