R.I.P. Edna Shalala, C|M Law Class of ‘52
Edna Shalala, C|M Law Class of ’52 passed away at the age of 103 on December 2nd. Shalala was a pioneer for women in the law in Northeast Ohio.
Throughout Edna Shalala’s long and exceptional career, she found the drive and courage to assert a woman’s right to education and professional fulfillment, long before such paths seemed attainable. Ms. Shalala practiced law in Cleveland for 50 years, retiring in 2002 at the age of 90. She held down four jobs while she earned a degree in physical education from Ohio State University in 1933, and was one of the first Arab-American graduates of the University. Ms. Shalala worked as a teacher to disabled children, pioneering a creative physical education curriculum for their special needs.
In 1948, the busy wife, mother, and full-time schoolteacher enrolled in law school part-time. When she graduated from Cleveland-Marshall in 1952, downtown law firms were not hiring women, so she established a small but successful probate practice on Cleveland’s near west side with a partner, another woman who graduated from Cleveland-Marshall.
Ms. Shalala was also a ranked amateur tennis player, having played in the U.S. National Championships in 1937, 1938 and 1939. She continued to play the Seniors Circuit into her eighties, and often credits sports with developing the leadership skills of women. In 1980, she was inducted into the Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. A lifelong learner, she remains active by taking continuing education classes at the University of Miami, where her daughter, former secretary of health and human services in the Clinton Administration, Donna Shalala, is president of the University.
