Hazel O'Leary
| Hazel O'Leary | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 7th United States Secretary of Energy | |
|
In office January 22, 1993 – January 20, 1997 |
|
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | James Watkins |
| Succeeded by | Federico Peña |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Hazel Reid May 17, 1937 Newport News, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Carl Rollins (Divorced) Max Robinson (Divorced) John O'Leary (1980–1987) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education |
Fisk University (BA) Rutgers University, Newark (LLB) |
Hazel Reid O'Leary (born May 17, 1937) was the seventh United States Secretary of Energy, from 1993 to 1997, appointed by President Bill Clinton. As of 2015, she is the first and only woman and first and only African American to hold the position. She served as president of Fisk University, a historically black college (HBCU), from 2004 to 2012.
Hazel Reid was born in Newport News, Virginia. Hazel's parents, Dr. Russel E. Reid and Dr. Hazel Reid were both physicians. They when she was 18 months old. Her father and step-mother Mattie, a teacher, raised Hazel and her older sister Edna Reid. Both of the parents were successful medical doctors around the 1930s, and her step-mother was a teacher. Hazel attended school in a segregated school system in Newport News for eight years. Hazel and her sister were then sent to live with an aunt in Essex County, New Jersey and attend Arts Hight School, an integrated school. She earned a bachelor's degree at Fisk University in Nashville in 1959. She then married Carl Rollins and had a son before returning to school and earning her Bachelor of Laws degree from Rutgers School of Law in 1966.
O'Leary worked as a prosecutor in New Jersey prosecuting organized crime cases. Next she became an assistant attorney general. O'Leary got a divorce and in 1969 moved to Washington, D.C. where she joined the consulting/accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. During the Carter Administration, O'Leary was appointed assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, general counsel of the Community Services Administration, and administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration at the newly created Department of Energy. At the Department of Energy, Hazel met her third husband, Jack, O'Leary.
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