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1993.08.03 :  Appointment of Shirley Chater 

Contact:  HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343
August 3, 1993

     President Clinton has selected Shirley S. Chater, Ph.D., current president
of Texas Woman's University (TWU), to become the twelfth commissioner of
Social Security, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today.
     As president of TWU, Dr. Chater is the chief administrator for the
University's Denton campus.  The institution is a public university with 10,000
students, four campuses and 600 faculty members.  Dr. Chater instituted a
strategic planning process that involved faculty, staff, students and
administrators that led to a restructuring and streamlining of operations so
that student enrollment increased from 7,000 to 10,000 with no corresponding
increase in budget.
     Under her leadership, TWU has maintained one of the highest minority
enrollments (20 percent) in the Texas state system.
     "Dr.  Chater brings a wealth of experience in administration and social
issues which make her ideally suited for the responsibilities she will face as
Social Security commissioner," Secretary Shalala said.
     Dr. Chater, 61, began her career in the academic sector in 1964, and
gained broad experience in management, budget, and program planning and
evaluation while serving as vice chancellor at the University of California from
1977 to 1982.  She was the first woman to hold a high level administrative
position in the system.
     Dr. Chater received her Ph.D. in education from UC-Berkeley.  She also has
a master's and a bachelor's degree in nursing, and has received a certificate
from the Sloan School of Management, Program for Senior Executives, at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  In addition, Dr. Chater serves on a
wide variety of boards and commissions, including the Chamber of Commerce
and the United Way of Denton, Texas.
     In 1991, Dr. Chater was appointed chair of a 29-member state health task
force to address the urgent need for dependable, accessible and affordable
health care.  Many of the more than 100 recommendations the task force
presented to the governor and legislature -- including an immunization
initiative and insurance reform -- have been written into law.
     The Social Security Administration is responsible for administering the Old
Age, Survivors, and Disability programs under Social Security, as well as the
means-tested Supplemental Security Income program for the needy, aged,
blind, and disabled.  SSA pays monthly Social Security benefits to more than
42 million Americans -more than $300 billion each year.  Another 5.5 million
people receive monthly SSI payments in excess of $24 billion per year.
     Dr. Chater has published extensively in the fields of management theory,
health sciences, academic administration and research methodology.
     Dr. Chater is a Pennsylvania native who now makes her home in Denton. 
She is married to Dr. Norman Chater, a neurosurgeon, and has two children.