Condoleezza Rice (PhD)

Dr. Rice made history serving as the first African American Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. She is currently director of Stanford's prestigious Hoover Institution. She grew up in the segregated south and comes from a humble background where her grandmother bore 5 children, each from a different slave owner father. While her original goal at age 15 was to become a concert pianist, she later focused on political science earning both a bachelors and masters degree, and later a PhD in international studies from the University of Denver. Throughout her life, Rice has held her Christian faith as a core tenet of her identity as she once expressed as follows: "Spirituality and faith are at the core of who I am. I was born to deeply religious parents who were able to give me that rock solid foundation in the church and in my faith which really has served me so well."