Madeleine Korbel was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. When she was 11 years old, her family moved to the United States because the communist government of Czechoslovakia had sentenced her father to death. Madeleine Korbel graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1959. She then married Joseph Albright, a newspaper reporter and heir to a newspaper chain. After having three daughters, Albright received her doctorate from Columbia University in 1976. From 1978 to 1981 she worked at the National Security Council. In 1982 she became a professor of international relations at Georgetown University. She also served as foreign policy adviser to Democratic presidential candidates during the 1980s. In 1993 President Bill Clinton named Albright ambassador to the United Nations. In 1997 she was appointed secretary of state. She was the first female secretary of state and the highest-ranking female in the history of U.S. government.
