Sylvia Mathews Burwell | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2014 | |
| 15th President of American University | |
| In office June 1, 2017 – June 30, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Cornelius M. Kerwin |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan R. Alger |
| 22nd United States Secretary of Health and Human Services | |
| In office June 9, 2014 – January 20, 2017 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Bill Corr Mary Wakefield (acting) |
| Preceded by | Kathleen Sebelius |
| Succeeded by | Tom Price |
| 39th Director of the Office of Management and Budget | |
| In office April 24, 2013 – June 9, 2014 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Brian Deese |
| Preceded by | Jack Lew |
| Succeeded by | Shaun Donovan |
| Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget | |
| In office October 21, 1998 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Jack Lew |
| Succeeded by | Sean O'Keefe |
| White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | |
| In office January 20, 1997 – October 21, 1998 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Harold M. Ickes |
| Succeeded by | Maria Echaveste |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sylvia Mary Mathews June 23, 1965 Hinton, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Stephen Burwell |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Worcester College, Oxford (BA) |
Sylvia Mary Burwell (née Mathews; born June 23, 1965) is an American government and non-profit executive who was the 15th president of American University from June 1, 2017 to June 30, 2024. Burwell is the first woman to serve as the university's president. Burwell earlier served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. President Barack Obama nominated Burwell on April 11, 2014. Burwell's nomination was confirmed by the Senate on June 5, 2014, by a vote of 78–17. She served as Secretary until the end of the Obama administration. Previously, she had been the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget from 2013 to 2014.
A West Virginia native, Burwell first worked for the United States government in Washington, D.C., during the presidency of Bill Clinton. Burwell helped form the National Economic Council in 1993. Burwell later served as Chief of Staff to Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, Deputy White House Chief of Staff to Erskine Bowles, and finally, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Between her times in government, Burwell served as president of Walmart's charitable foundation focused on ending hunger, beginning in January 2012. Burwell was earlier the president of the Global Development Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where her program focused on combating world poverty through agricultural development, financial services for the poor, and global libraries. She was chief operating officer and executive director before its reorganization in 2006. She joined the Gates Foundation in 2001, at the end of the Clinton presidency.