Sylvia M. Burwell

Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the 15th president of American University in Washington, D.C., and the first woman to serve in that role. She previously served as the secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. She has served on the GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation board and the Florida Blue board since 2018.

Prior to her service in Washington, Sylvia was the president of the Walmart Foundation, where she focused on its global women empowerment efforts. Before joining the Walmart Foundation, she was president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she worked for 10 years and was also the first chief operating officer.

Sylvia is on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative, the Aspen Health Strategy Group, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, and she is a 2005 Henry Crown Fellow.