Condoleezza Rice is the 66th U.S. Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush to hold the office.
Rice is the first black woman, second African-American (after Colin Powell, who served before her under George W. Bush from 2001-2005), and second woman (after Madeleine Albright who served from 1997-2001) to serve as Secretary of State.
Condoleezza Rice was President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term, but before joining the George W. Bush administration, she was a Professor of political science at Stanford University where she served as university Provost from 1993-1999.
During the administration of George H.W. Bush, Rice served as the Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.
When beginning as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice pioneered a policy of Transformational Diplomacy, with a focus on democracy in the Middle East.
Rice's emphasis on democratic reforms faces challenges as Hamas captured a popular majority in Palestine yet supported Islamist terror, and influential countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt maintain authoritarian systems with U.S. support.
Condi Rice chairs the Millennium Challenge Corporation's board of directors. In addition to English, she speaks, with varying degrees of fluency, Russian, German, French, and Spanish.
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Rice is single and holds college degrees from the University of Denver and the University of Notre Dame.
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