A Conversation with 66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

In conversation with Brown University President Christina H. Paxson, Secretary Rice will reflect on her experience in U.S. foreign policy and will discuss global diplomacy and national security in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. Tickets are required, and the exact location of the event will be announced at a later date.

About the Speaker

Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy. She is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm. From January 2005 to January 2009, Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first Black woman to hold the post. Prior to that, Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor), the first woman to hold the position. Rice served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999, during which time she was the institution’s chief budget and academic officer. Earlier, Rice served on President George H.W. Bush’s National Security Council staff. She has authored and co-authored numerous books. In addition, she co-founded the Center for a New Generation (CNG), an innovative, after-school academic enrichment program for students in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California, and serves on the boards of C3.ai, an AI software company; and Makena Capital Management, a private endowment firm. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice earned her bachelor’s degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver; her master’s in the same subject from the University of Notre Dame; and her Ph.D., likewise in political science, from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Rice is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded over fifteen honorary doctorates.

About the Ogden Lecture

The Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs is the University’s oldest and most prestigious foreign affairs lecture series. The lectureship honors Stephen A. Ogden Jr., a member of the Class of 1960, who wanted to advance the cause of world peace through a career in international relations. Since the inaugural Ogden Lecture in 1965, Brown has welcomed many heads of state, senior elected officials, career diplomats and other policymakers and close observers of the international arena.

To learn more about the series, please visit ogden.brown.edu.

About Brown 2026

This event is part of Brown 2026, a campus-wide initiative to observe the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States to demonstrate the important role of research and teaching universities in fostering open and democratic societies. Learn more at brown2026democracy.brown.edu.

About The Watson School

As Brown University’s new policy school, The Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs serves as the central home on campus for teaching, research, and public engagement around economic, social and policy challenges.