University of Miami President Donna Shalala says she will retire next year.
Shalala informed members of the school's board of trustees of her decision Monday. The 73-year-old Shalala has led Miami since 2001, overseeing two major fundraising campaigns that will eventually bring a total of $3 billion to the school.
"A long time ago a friend advised me to always leave a job when you still love it. That is certainly the case here," Shalala wrote in a letter released Monday.
The school's next fiscal year begins June 1, 2015. It's expected a new president could be in place by then.
Before coming to Miami, Shalala served eight years as the Health and Human Services Secretary under President Bill Clinton. Shalala also has been chancellor at the University of Wisconsin and president of Hunter College.
Her Miami tenure will be remembered for a number of issues related to athletics, including an NCAA investigation into the acts of a rogue former booster.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez releeased a statement that read in part: “Donna could have gone anywhere and been successful, but she came here to Miami-Dade. She took an already successful institution and gave it the “Momentum” it needed to make it one of the top universities in the nation....She always understood the power of service, and she made Miami-Dade County a better place because of it.”
