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Biography
Condoleezza Rice (1954–) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She earned a BA and PhD in international studies from the University of Denver. She taught at Stanford University, rising to the position of provost. She also served on the National Security Council and was appointed the national security adviser by President George W. Bush before being named secretary of state. She was the first African American woman in this position.
As secretary, Rice supported the expansion of democratic governments and championed “transformational diplomacy,” which sought to redistribute U.S. diplomats to areas of severe social and political trouble, addressing such issues as disease, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, and reemphasizing aid. She helped negotiate several agreements in the Middle East and focused on finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. She worked actively to improve human rights issues in Iran but also sought to curtail its nuclear program and that of North Korea. One of her most successful negotiations was an agreement that allowed civil nuclear trade between India and the United States.
Rice has returned to teaching at Stanford and serves as head of the Hoover Institution.