Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. She was the first female secretary of state in U.S. history.

Albright immigrated with her family to the United States in 1948 from Communist Czechoslovakia. Her father, diplomat Josef Korbel, settled the family in Denver, Colorado, and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957. Albright graduated from Wellesley College in 1959 and earned a PhD from Columbia University in 1975, writing her thesis on the Prague Spring. She worked as an aide to Senator Edmund Muskie before taking a position under Zbigniew Brzezinski on the National Security Council. She served in that position until 1981, when President Jimmy Carter left office.

After leaving the National Security Council, Albright joined the academic faculty of Georgetown University and advised Democratic candidates regarding foreign policy. After Clinton's victory in the 1992 presidential election, Albright helped assemble his National Security Council. Clinton appointed her to the position of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1993. She held that position until 1997, when she became Secretary of State. Albright served in that capacity until Clinton left office in 2001.

Albright served as chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a consulting firm, and was the Michael and Virginia Mortara Endowed Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. president Barack Obama in May 2012. Albright served on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations.