Donna Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), told graduating Kennedy School of Government students that it is their education as "moral agents," not policy wonks, that will make them effective leaders, at the school's Class Day ceremonies yesterday.

"The principles of ethical government that have been sown into the fabric of your education cannot--I repeat, cannot--lose their relevance," she said in a speech that lasted about 15 minutes. "But they can lose your attention, if you let them."

Shalala, the longest serving secretary of HHS, has spent her career at the helm of large organizations.

She served as president of Hunter College in New York City and was the first female chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In her current position, she supervises the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and was instrumental in the re-working of welfare in 1996.

In her speech, she welcomed the graduates into the world of "full-fledged policy wonks."

"You've mastered the fine art of squeezing one simple idea into a 30-page memo," she quipped.

Intelligence is not enough to affect government policy, Shalala said.

"It's been my experience in government after 20 years that bright--even brilliant--people come a dime a dozen. Finding wise, caring people--with judgment and integrity--is a different matter," she said.