Sheila P. Burke
{{short description|American nurse and policy advisor (born 1950/51)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sheila P. Burke
| image = 127.SFF41.Opening.NM.WDC.27jun07 (645694747) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Burke in 2007
| order = 27th
| office = Secretary of the United States Senate
| term_start = January 4, 1995
| term_end = June 7, 1995
| leader = Bob Dole
| predecessor = Martha S. Pope
| succeeded = Kelly D. Johnston
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|35|1986|02|18}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| party =
| education = {{ubl|University of San Francisco (BSN)|Harvard University (MPA)}}
}}
Sheila P. Burke (born {{birth based on age as of date|35|1986|02|18|noage=1}}) is an American strategic advisor known for her work in health care and government finance. She was chief of staff to Bob Dole and Secretary of the United States Senate. Her subsequent work was at the Smithsonian Institution and, as of 2023, she is a strategic advisor at the law firm Baker Donelson.
Early life and education
Burke was raised in Merced, California. Her father worked for Farmers Insurance Group, while her mother worked with doctors and ambulance companies in town as an answering service.{{Cite news |last=DeParle |first=Jason |date=November 12, 1995 |title=Sheila Burke is the militant feminist commie peacenik who's telling Bob Dole what to think |pages=632 |work=New York Times Magazine|id={{ProQuest|}}}} Her family politics were as Democrats, but Burke would later change to the Republican party.{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Martin |date=March 18, 1996 |title=Second Front: Dole's women |pages=T.002 |work=The Guardian (pre-1997 Fulltext); Manchester (UK) [Manchester (UK)]}} Burke went to Our Lady of Mercy School in Merced, California. She received a B.S. in nursing from the University of San Francisco in 1973. She later earned an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1982.{{Cite web |title=Sheila P. Burke |url=https://www.bakerdonelson.com/sheila-p-burke |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=www.bakerdonelson.com |language=en |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211224737/https://www.bakerdonelson.com/Sheila-P-Burke |url-status=live }}
Career
Burke's early career was as a nurse, and she worked at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California, and served as student affairs director of the National Student Nurses Association.{{Cite news |last=Schreffler |first=Willa |date=November 1974 |title=Nurses in the News |volume=22 |pages=42 |work=Occupational Health Nursing ; Atlanta |issue=11 |id={{ProQuest|}}}} In 1974 she moved to become program director of New York's National Student Nurses Association, and worked at Doctors Hospital in New York as a medical-surgical nurse.{{Cite news |last=Rich |first=Spencer |date=February 18, 1986 |title=Ex-Nurse Tackles New Challenge As Senate Leader's Chief of Staff |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/02/18/ex-nurse-tackles-new-challenge-as-senate-leaders-chief-of-staff/c1b8120e-3fc7-48a2-9fee-2f7c5f5a4e8f/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}
Burke connected with Senator Bob Dole through a third party.{{Cite journal |last=Burke |first=Sheila |date=2009-05-06 |title=Interview with Sheila Burke by Brien Williams |url=https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/mitchelloralhistory/171/ |journal=George J. Mitchell Oral History Project}} Senator Dole was looking for someone to deal with the health matters. Despite being a Democrat, and relatively liberal, Dole, caring little about her political views, hired Burke due to the fact that she had experience with patient care.
Burke started as a legislative aide to Senator Bob Dole in 1977.{{Cite web |last=Koed |first=Betty |author-link=Betty Koed |date=March 16, 2018 |others=Senate Historical Office, Washington, D.C. |title=U.S. Senate: Sheila P. Burke |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/oral_history/burke-sheila-oral-history.htm |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=www.senate.gov |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314184820/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/oral_history/burke-sheila-oral-history.htm |url-status=live }} She came in with little to no experience working in Washington or the Senate.{{Cite web |date=2016-10-27 |title=Sheila Burke Oral History {{!}} Miller Center |url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories/sheila-burke-oral-history |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=millercenter.org |language=en}} In 1978 she began as a staffer for the Senate Committee on Finance, and from 1982 until 1985 she served as deputy staff director for that committee. She also joined the Finance Committee in 1979; she was in charge of handling all of the issues regarding health. Burke was named Bob Dole's deputy chief of staff in 1985, and in 1986 she was promoted to become Dole's chief of staff.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=January 30, 1986 |title=Senate Aide Is Named As Dole's Chief of Staff |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/30/us/senate-aide-is-named-as-dole-s-chief-of-staff.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513045514/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/30/us/senate-aide-is-named-as-dole-s-chief-of-staff.html |url-status=live }} She was the first woman chief of staff to a Senate majority leader.{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Lia |url=http://archive.org/details/skirtingtraditio00lial |title=Skirting tradition : women in politics speak to the next generation |date=2004 |publisher=Hollis, NH : Hollis Pub. Co. |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-884186-28-8}}
Throughout her time working with Senator Dole, Burke was extremely careful to only provide him with the information he needed to make good decisions and not try to influence him in any way that was incompatible with his Republican views. Additionally, as a staffer, Burke felt she should not be the center of attention, but in 1995 a series of articles in the Washington Post presented opposition to her work in Washington, D.C.{{Cite news |last=Grove |first=Lloyd |date=August 11, 1995 |title=Sheila Burke, On the Wrong Side of the Right |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/08/11/sheila-burke-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-right/c1fbfd82-1b23-47bb-9a46-bd6770e14fa7/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |last=Dewar |first=Kevin Merida; Helen |date=July 21, 1995 |title=Dole's Chief of Staff is Magnet for Criticism |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/07/21/doles-chief-of-staff-is-magnet-for-criticism/483c2288-c79e-4da7-a21e-aa8d01d253ba/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}} Burke was elected secretary of the Senate in 1995. Given her role in the Senate, she was informally known as the "101st senator".
In 1996, Burke left the Senate to become executive dean of the Harvard Kennedy School.{{Cite web |title=Burke to be 2022 Penn Nursing Commencement Speaker |url=https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/details/news.php?id=2111 |access-date=April 14, 2023 |website=Penn Nursing |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |archive-date=April 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414224419/https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/details/news.php?id=2111 |url-status=live }} She served in this role until 2000 when she went to the Smithsonian Institution to serve as the under secretary for American museums and national programs.{{Cite news |last=Molotsky |first=Irvin |date=February 12, 2000 |title=Smithsonian Appoints a Political Savant |page=B12 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/12/arts/smithsonian-appoints-a-political-savant.html |access-date=April 14, 2023 |archive-date=April 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414224418/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/12/arts/smithsonian-appoints-a-political-savant.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Trescott |first=Jacqueline |date=February 12, 2000 |title=Top-Down Change at Museum |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/02/12/top-down-change-at-museum/b9f11bdc-9c26-406f-b44c-ca1a3faa8ffa/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828202052/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/02/12/top-down-change-at-museum/b9f11bdc-9c26-406f-b44c-ca1a3faa8ffa/ |url-status=live }} She held this position through 2003. From 2004 until 2007 she was the deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the Smithsonian Institution.{{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=September 22, 2007 |title=Changes at the Smithsonian |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/arts/design/22arts-CHANGESATTHE_BRF.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513051018/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/arts/design/22arts-CHANGESATTHE_BRF.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=McGlone |first=Peggy |date=December 16, 2019 |title=Smithsonian secretary taps former intelligence officer as deputy |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/smithsonian-secretary-taps-former-intelligence-officer-as-deputy/2019/12/16/298ea4c2-1de6-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117212204/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/smithsonian-secretary-taps-former-intelligence-officer-as-deputy/2019/12/16/298ea4c2-1de6-11ea-b4c1-fd0d91b60d9e_story.html |url-status=live }}
As of 2023, Burke works as a strategic advisor at Baker Donelson in Washington, D.C., and is an adjunct lecturer at Harvard University{{Cite web |title=Sheila Burke |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/sheila-burke |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=www.hks.harvard.edu |language=en |archive-date=March 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322001441/https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/sheila-burke |url-status=live }} and Georgetown University.{{Cite web |title=Sheila Burke |url=https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/experts/sheila-burke/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University |language=en-US |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513050052/https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/experts/sheila-burke/ |url-status=live }}
Awards and honors
In 2004 Burke was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine,{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Sheila P. Burke, M.P.A., R.N. |url=https://nam.edu/member/?member_id=oB7yRSSj7M%2FfOZV39KmDKw%3D%3D |website=National Academy of Medicine |access-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513054958/https://nam.edu/member/?member_id=oB7yRSSj7M/fOZV39KmDKw%3D%3D |url-status=live }} and a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=National Academy of Public Administration – Sheila Burke |url=https://napawash.org/fellow/2334 |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=National Academy of Public Administration |language=en |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329061442/https://napawash.org/fellow/2334 |url-status=live }} She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.{{Cite web |title=Sheila P. Burke |url=https://www.bakerdonelson.com/sheila-p-burke |access-date=July 26, 2022 |website=www.bakerdonelson.com |language=en |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629003700/https://www.bakerdonelson.com/sheila-p-burke |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=April 30, 1985 |title=UMFK nursing seniors to hear deputy chief |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-umfk-nursing-senio/124579867/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=The Bangor Daily News Bangor, Maine |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513184933/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bangor-daily-news-umfk-nursing-senio/124579867/ |url-status=live }} In 2008 she received the David Rall Medal from the Institute of Medicine.{{Cite book |editor-first1= Evelynn|editor-first2= Howard|editor-first3= David|editor-first4= Rosemary|editor-last1= Hammonds|editor-last2= Markel|editor-last3= Rosner|editor-last4= Stevens|url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26708/a-history-of-the-national-academy-of-medicine-50-years |title=A History of the National Academy of Medicine: 50 Years of Transformational Leadership |date=February 13, 2023 |isbn=978-0-309-69353-0 |language=en |doi=10.17226/26708 |access-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513054959/https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26708/a-history-of-the-national-academy-of-medicine-50-years |url-status=live |last1= Destefano|first1= Laura Harbold|last2= Schultz|first2= Andrea|last3= Berkowitz|first3= Edward|last4= Destefano|first4= L.H.|last5= Stevens|first5= R.|last6= Rosner|first6= D.|last7= Markel|first7= H.|last8= Hammonds|first8= E.|pmid= 36996272}} New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing awarded her with their Helen Manzer Award in 2016.{{Cite web |date=August 18, 2016 |title=NYU Meyers celebrates first graduation as an independent college {{!}} NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing |url=https://nursing.nyu.edu/news/nyu-meyers-celebrates-first-graduation-independent-college |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=nursing.nyu.edu |archive-date=May 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230513055000/https://nursing.nyu.edu/news/nyu-meyers-celebrates-first-graduation-independent-college |url-status=live }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|4128}}
- [https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/oral_history/burke-sheila-oral-history.htm Oral History Project: Sheila P. Burke]
- {{YouTube|id=c11fFyWe7xs|title=Sheila Burke – Oral History about Bob Dole – August 23, 2007}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Sheila}}
Category:University of San Francisco alumni
Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing
Category:Fellows of the United States National Academy of Public Administration
Category:Secretaries of the United States Senate
Category:Political chiefs of staff