Published: April 9, 2008

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Coors Events/Conference Center on Wednesday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m.

Doors for the event will open at 6:30 p.m. CU-Boulder's student-run Distinguished Speakers Board is sponsoring the event.

Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton from January 1997 to January 2001, and was the first woman to ever serve in the post and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government at the time. Prior to her appointment as Secretary of State she served as the United States Permanent Resident to the United Nations and as a member of President Clinton's National Security Council.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia -- now the Czech Republic -- in 1937, Albright lived in Belgrade, London and Czechoslovakia before fleeing the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia with her parents, arriving in the United States in 1948 and settling in Denver.

Her family stayed in Denver, where her father, Josef Korbel, joined the University of Denver faculty in 1949 as a professor of international relations, and later served as dean of the Graduate School of International Studies. He was a professor at DU for 27 years.

Albright attended Kent Denver School before earning her bachelor's degree in political science from Wellesley College in 1959 and her master's and doctorate degrees from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government in 1968 and 1976, respectively. She is fluent in English, French and Czech, with good speaking and reading abilities in Russian and Polish.

Albright also has served on the board of directors of the Council of Foreign Relations, as chair of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and as president of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. She is a principal of The Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm, and chair and principal of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm.

"We are excited to continue the Distinguished Speakers Board's tradition of offering the University of Colorado community speakers of international reputation by welcoming Secretary Albright to share her experiences," said Allison Schauwecker, chair of the Distinguished Speakers Board. "With the importance of the United States on the global stage, I am sure each audience member will leave her speech having learned a great deal."

CU-Boulder students can purchase tickets for $1 at the UMC Connection, located on the first floor of the University Memorial Center. The public can purchase general community tickets for $8, or floor seats for $30 by visiting ticketswest.com, in person at any Denver-area King Soopers and selected City Market stores, or by calling TicketsWest at 866-464-2626.

For more information about the event contact the Distinguished Speakers Board at 303-735-6653.