MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT

Madeleine K. Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. She was the first woman to hold the job and is the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history.
Madeleine Albright is the founder of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm.
Dr. Albright is the first Distinguished Scholar of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Business School and is the first Michael and Virginia Mortara Endowed Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. She is also the Chairman of The National Democratic Institute. Dr. Albright expects to complete her autobiography for publication in 2003.
As Secretary, Dr. Albright reinforced America's alliances, advocated democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade and business, labor, and environmental standards abroad.
Accomplishments during Dr. Albright 's time as Secretary included the expansion and modernization of NATO and NATO's successful campaign to reverse ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; the promotion of peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East; the reduction of nuclear dangers from Russia and North Korea; the expansion of democracy in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America; the enactment of permanent normal trade relations with China, in a relationship of enhanced cooperation but continued pursuit of change in areas of disagreement, including human rights; and the growth of trade in the Americas, with Africa through the African Growth Opportunity Act, and through the conclusion of hundreds of other agreements that facilitated American business overseas. In June 2000, Dr. Albright and representatives from every region of the world convened the first ever conference of democracies.
Madeleine Albright also prepared America's foreign affairs institutions for 21st Century challenges. Under her leadership four Cold War bureaucracies merged into a single integrated operation. She reversed a decade-long drop in funding for America's embassies and operations overseas, persuading Congress to increase funding by 17 percent.
From 1993 - 1997, Dr. Albright served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as a member of the President's Cabinet and National Security Council. In 1995, she led the U.S. delegation to the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing China.
Dr. Albright was the Director of Women in Foreign Service Programs and a Research Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University during the decade prior to her return to public service. From 1989-1992, she was President of the Center for National Policy, a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington D.C.
From 1978-81, Dr. Albright was a member of President Carter's National Security Council and White House staff. From 1976-78, she served as Chief Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie.
Dr. Albright received her B.A. with Honors, from Wellesley College, Master's and Doctorate from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government, as well as a Certificate from the Russian Institute.
Selected writings include Poland, the Role of the Press in Political Change (New York: Praeger with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 1983); The Role of the Press in Political Change: Czechoslovakia 1968 (Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University 1976); and The Soviet Diplomatic Service: Profile of an Elite (Master's Thesis, Columbia University 1968).
Madeleine Korbel Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and emigrated to America with her family after Communists took control of that country in 1948. She is the mother of three daughters and has five grandchildren.
BLACKWELL RECIPIENTS
May 16, 2021
Librarian of Congress Carla HaydenFebruary 3, 2021
Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader GinsburgJanuary 22, 2015
Dr. Janet L. YellenNovember 10, 2013
The Most Reverend Doctor Katharine Jefferts SchoriOctober 27, 2011
Eunice Kennedy Shriver-
April 23, 2009
Rabbi Sally J. Priesand -
April 24, 2008
Dr. Wangari Maathai Sc.D.'94, P '94, P '96 -
April 27, 2007
Dr. Priscilla A. Schaffer '64, Sc.D. '94 -
September 7, 2004
Bishop Barbara Clementine Harris September 9, 2003
Loretta C. FordSeptember 4, 2001
Madeleine K. AlbrightMay 15, 1998
Billie Jean KingFebruary 10, 1996
Wilma MankillerSeptember 23, 1993
Barbara JordanSeptember 27, 1991
Margaret Chase SmithFebruary 22, 1991
Dr. Antonia C. NovelloFebruary 19, 1988
Barbara Aronstein BlackOctober 9, 1985
Cicely SaundersMarch 8, 1985
Sandra Day O’ConnorFebruary 11, 1984
Hannah Holborn GrayFebruary 26, 1982
Agnes George de MilleFebruary 15, 1980
Mary Douglas LeakeySeptember 30, 1977
Mary S. CalderoneOctober 3, 1975
Antonia BricoJanurary 23, 1974
Frances Keller HardingMay 28, 1973
Judith Graham PoolJune 8, 1972
Marian AndersonApril 10, 1972
Mary LaskerJune 13, 1971
Mina ReesJune 14, 1970
Helen Brooke TaussigJune 15, 1969
Georgiana SibleyJune 16, 1968
Constance Baker MotleySeptember 8, 1967
Catharine MacfarlaneJuly 10, 1966
Fe del MundoJune 13, 1965
Annette LeMeitour-KaplunJune 14, 1964
Margaret MeadJune 9, 1963
Marty MannJune 10, 1962
Frances PerkinsJune 18,1961
Leona BaumgartnerJune 12, 1960
Miki SawadaJune 14, 1959
Elisabeth Luce MooreSeptember 27, 1958
Gwendolyn Grant Mellon