The Edna C. Shalala Fund for Women’s Athletics was created to honor President Donna E. Shalala’s mother, Edna, on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Edna Shalala passed away in December 2014 at the age of 103.
The fund is used to enhance women’s athletics and supports the continued success of Miami’s women’s athletic teams. A once nationally ranked amateur tennis player, Ohio-born Edna Shalala graduated from college in 1933 and worked as a physical education teacher. During the summer, she won several big tennis tournaments and qualified for the national championships three years in a row. Ever the competitor, she played in her last national event just before going on her honeymoon.
Eleven years after her twin daughters Donna and Diane were born, Edna graduated from law school. She had a long and successful career as managing partner of a busy probate firm and practiced law well into her nineties. Edna also played competitively on the senior amateur circuit—earning a ranking of No. 1 in the Middle West—until 1996.
Edna Shalala was tremendous proponent for women’s athletics both nationally and within the University of Miami athletics community. Your kind donation is a fitting and meaningful way to memorialize Edna Shalala, while also supporting the University of Miami’s continued tradition of excellence in women’s sports.