Around the Institute

Institute Fellow Sylvia Mathews Burwell Nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services

April 11, 2014

Sylvia Mathews Burwell at the 2013 Washington Ideas Forum.

Henry Crown Fellow and former Aspen Strategy Group member Sylvia Mathews Burwell was nominated by President Barack Obama today to succeed Kathleen Sebelius as the secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, she will become the fourth Aspen Global Leadership Network Fellow serving in the United States Cabinet, joining:

  • Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education (Henry Crown Fellow)
  • Anthony Foxx, Secretary of Transportation (Rodel Fellow)
  • Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor (Rodel Fellow)

Burwell is a veteran of the Clinton Administration as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and former president of the Walmart Foundation. Last April, she was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

During the most recent Washington Ideas Forum, Burwell spoke about the current state of healthcare in the US and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Watch a clip from that conversation below.

Institute Fellows enter the program having demonstrated a great deal of personal success and are continuously prompted to broaden and deepen the impact of their leadership on society. As Burwell prepares to oversee the continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, she personifies one of the central goals of the Institute’s fellowship programs.

Caitlin Colegrove is the network and communications manager for the Aspen Global Leadership Network.