| |
Madeleine K. Albright, PhD
Diplomat and First Female U.S. Secretary of State
Born May 15, 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia
Inducted 2010
Adopted by CH2M Hill
Portrait by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Madeleine K. Albright was the 64th secretary
of state of the United States. In 1997, she was named the first
female secretary of state and became, at that time, the highest-ranking
woman in the history of U.S. government. As secretary of state,
Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated democracy
and human rights, and promoted American trade and business, labor,
and environmental standards abroad.
From 1993 to 1997, Albright served as the U.S. permanent representative
to the United Nations and as a member of the president’s
cabinet.
Her father, Josef Korbel, a diplomat, fled Communist Czechoslovakia
with his family to the United States in 1948. In 1949, he accepted
a position teaching international relations at the University of
Denver. He later helped found and served as the first dean of the
Graduate School of International Studies, which was renamed the
Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2008. A student
of international relations from early on, Albright spent her teen
years in Denver and graduated from Kent Denver School, where she
founded the school’s international relations club and was
its first president.
She went on to receive a BA degree from Wellesley College and
Master’s and PhD degrees from Columbia University’s
Department of Public Law and Government, as well as a certificate
from its Russian Institute.
Albright is a professor in the practice of diplomacy at the Georgetown
University School of Foreign Service. She chairs both the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the Pew Global
Attitudes Project. Albright also serves on the board of directors
of the Council on Foreign Relations and the board of trustees for
the Aspen Institute. In 2009, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen asked Albright to chair a group of experts on NATO’s
New Strategic Concept.
Albright is the author of four New York Times best sellers, including
her 2003 autobiography Madam Secretary: A Memoir. Currently, Albright
is chair of Albright Stonebridge Group and chair of Albright Capital
Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging
markets.
|