Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice (born 1954) is the first African American woman secretary of state. She was also the first female national security advisor, and the first African American female provost of Stanford University.
Rice grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. Her parents, both educators, were determined that she not see herself as a victim. After getting a doctorate in political science, Rice became a Stanford professor.
Rice advised President George H.W. Bush as an expert on the Soviet Union, and as secretary of state she sought to strengthen democratic governments around the world.
She returned to Stanford and was named director of the Hoover Institution.