Career Shirley Chater

1 career

1.1 academic career
1.2 presidency @ twu
1.3 social security administration
1.4 later career

career
early academic career

when children young, chater worked part-time in education , in private duty nursing. in 1970s , 1980s, chater held faculty appointments in nursing @ university of california, san francisco (ucsf) , in education department @ university of california, berkeley, respectively. vice chancellor academic affairs @ ucsf 1977 1982, made highest ranking woman in uc system. nominated chancellor @ ucsf, chater realized no non-physician had ever held position , withdrew consideration. in mid-1980s, worked american council on education (ace), involved traveling between california , washington, dc.

presidency @ twu

while on sabbatical ucsf , working ace in washington, dc, in 1986, texas woman s university (twu) nominated chater candidate university president. half of twu s academic offerings in health sciences, made chater unique fit. accepted position in july 1986 , began there 3 months later. state commission had been formed investigate whether of state s 37 public colleges merged. between time chater accepted position , time started, commission proposed twu should merged university of north texas (unt). in testimony before commission, chater pointed out twu nation s public university women.

the commission in texas cancelled proposed merger of twu , unt 2 months after chater s arrival @ twu. officials @ twu , city of denton credited focusing university on consistent mission. upon arrival, twu had 33 academic programs 2 or fewer graduates in previous 6 years total. chater led effort reorganized university system of 11 schools 8 schools. in 1991, chater 1 of 3 finalists position of chancellor of california state university; barry munitz, former chancellor of university of houston, selected position.

social security administration

chater sworn in commissioner of social security in october 1993. shortly after taking office, said while there no immediate plans raise retirement age, issue have examined. cited increasing life expectancy of people in decades following creation of social security. in 1994, social security administration broken off department of health , human services, chater reporting directly president. same legislation gave office six-year term. in january 1995, clinton nominated chater six-year term.

at confirmation hearing next month, faced stern criticism senate finance committee chairman bob packwood. accused of not providing specific solutions prevent social security heading toward bankruptcy. senate finance committee did not act on chater s nomination six-year term, meaning able serve through clinton s term president. article in baltimore sun said failed nomination hurt morale @ agency , may have undermined chater s power congress. chater announced resignation social security administration in fall of 1996, effective january 31, 1997. in resignation letter, chater mentioned wanted spend more time family.

later career

after service social security, chater joined robert wood johnson foundation. helped develop executive nurse fellows program , served national advisory committee chair. program three-year mentoring , education program future nurse leaders. named living legend of american academy of nursing in 2000.