Obama Nominates Greek-American Health Secretary

The President praised his former budget chief: "When the government was forced to shut down last October, and even as her own team was barred from reporting to work, Sylvia was a rock, a steady hand on the wheel who helped navigate the country through a very challenging time".

Burwell received degrees from both Harvard and Oxford Universities. She worked for the Dukakis and Clinton presidential campaigns. The successful Greek-American held a number of impressive posts in the Clinton Administration and worked in the private sector at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, before heading the Walmart Foundation. Prior to her work under President Clinton, she was employed at McKinsey & Company.

The Rhodes Scholar is the daughter of former Hinton, West Virgina mayor Cleo (Maroudas) Mathews and retired optometrist Dr. William Peter Mathews. Burwell's paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants, as well as her maternal grandparents, Vasiliki Mpakeres and Dennis N. Maroudas.