Madeleine Albright
is honored with a Brick from Carolyn Conley, Barbara Hoffman, Shannon Hoffman, Christine A. Hoyle, Tina Johnson, Carol Wolfe Konek, Pat Kenyon, Sally Luallen, Joanne McClelland, Margery Nagel, Elayne Rossi, Joan Snodgrass and Jo Zakas.
"She watched her world fall apart, and ever since she has dedicated her life to spreading to the rest of the world the freedom and tolerance her family found here in America," stated President Clinton in naming Madeleine K. Albright to become the first female Secretary of State.
Her biography is a testimony to the courage, perseverance and success women can achieve in today's world. She is a role model that shows it can be done if we only dream the dream, do the work and make it happen.
The following is a biography prepared by the U.S. Department of State:
Madeleine K. Albright was nominated by President Clinton on December 5, 1996, as Secretary of State. After being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she was sworn in as the 64th Secretary of State on January 23, 1997. Secretary Albright is the first female Secretary of State and the highest ranking woman in the U.S. Government.
Prior to her appointment, Secretary Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (presenting her credentials at the UN on February 6, 1993) and as a member of President Clinton's Cabinet and National Security Council.
Secretary Albright formerly was President of the Center of National Policy. The Center is a non-profit research organization formed in 1981 by representatives from government, industry, labor and education. Its mandate is to promote the study and discussion of domestic and international issues.
As a Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of Women in the Foreign Services Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international affairs, U.S. foreign policy, Russian foreign policy and Central and Eastern European politics, and was responsible for developing and implementing programs designed to enhance women's professional opportunities in international affairs.
From 1981 to 1982, Secretary Albright was awarded a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian, following an international competition in which she wrote about the role of the press in political changes in Poland during the early 1980s.
She also served as a Senior Fellow in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducting research in development and trends in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
From 1978 to 1981, Secretary Albright was a staff member on the National Security Council, as well as a White House staff member, where she was responsible for foreign policy legislation. From 1976-1978, she served as Chief Legislative Assistant to Senator Edmund S. Muskie.
Awarded a B.A. from Wellesley College with honors in Political Science, she studied at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, received a Certificate from the Russian Institute of Columbia University, and her Master and Doctorate from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government. Secretary Albright is fluent in French and Czech, with good speaking and reading abilities in Russian and Polish.
She has three daughters.
"We live in an era without power blocks, in which old assumptions must be reexamined, institutions modernized and relationships transformed. . . we must be forward-looking in our thinking and flexible in our tactics. But we need not and must not diverge from the core values of democracy and respect for human dignity that has long guided our nation." Madeleine Albright
Submitted by Elayne Rossi and the women of The Expansion Network: Carolyn Conley, Barbara Hoffman, Shannon Hoffman, Christine A. Hoyle, Tina Johnson, Carol Wolfe Konek, Pat Kenyon, Sally Luallen, Joanne McClelland, Margery Nagel, Elayne Rossi, Joan Snodgrass, and Jo Zakas.
September 14, 1998
