| 1983 | Margaret Heckler was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services by President Ronald Reagan.
Ellen Taafe Zwilich is the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music. |
| 1984 | Geraldine Ferraro becomes first woman vice-presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party. Kathryn Sullivan is first U.S. woman astronaut to walk in space. |
| 1990 | Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as U.S. Surgeon General, becoming the first woman (and first Hispanic) to hold that job. |
| 1991 | HHS Creates an Office on Women's Health. |
| 1993 | Donna Shalala was appointed her U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she served for eight years, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. Janet Reno became U.S. attorney general. |
| 1994 | The Violence Against Women Act was passed, giving women a federal civil rights provision to combat gender-based violent crimes. It also authorizes the expenditure of $1.6 billion dollars over a six-year period to curb violence against women. |
| 1995 | United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women is held in Beijing, China. Myrlie Evers-Williams is elected chairperson of the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). A writer, activist and widow of slain civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Williams wins by one vote. |
| 1996 | Sgt. Heather Johnsen becomes the first woman to guard the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. |
| 1997 | Czech-born American diplomat Madeleine
Albright is unanimously confirmed by the Senate and becomes the first female U.S. Secretary of State. Jody Williams, the American activist who helped found the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), is awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Claudia Kennedy is promoted to lieutenant general, making her the first female three-star general. Alexis Herman is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Secretary of Labor. Pat Henry of Bloomington, Illinois, becomes the first American woman to sail solo around the world. The eight-team Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) debuts. |