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The Honorable Hazel R. O’Leary was named the 14th President of Fisk University on August 16, 2004. President O’Leary is a former cabinet member, businesswoman, lawyer, and community leader dedicated to practical solutions in education, energy policy, national security, science and technology, economic productivity and sustainable development. Her bold leadership and prudent risk taking has led to action and positive change in each challenge she has undertaken during her professional career.
She was the first Energy Secretary to oppose nuclear testing. Through her leadership in the face of strong criticism from the military-industrial establishment, she broadened the debate on testing within Government, the national laboratory system and the national security community, and thereby provided the technical basis for President Clinton's decision to end nuclear testing in the United States. That decision led to the agreement on the language of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that was signed by 126 nations at the United Nations in September 1996.
Mrs. O'Leary is the first African-American, the first woman, and the first energy executive to hold the Cabinet post of Energy Secretary. She was named "Person of the Week" by the ABC television network for her courageous decision to lift the veil of secrecy from decades-old information detailing government sponsored radiation experiments on human subjects. In addition, she was the recipient of the Averell Harriman Award and named as one of 100 fearless women in the United States by Mirabella magazine for her principled stand to end nuclear testing and secure nuclear materials globally.
Before accepting the challenge of heading an agency with 120 thousand employees and an annual budget of nearly $21 billion, Mrs. O'Leary had proven management skills, garnered through 25 years of experience in energy and environmental policy and large project development.
Mrs. O'Leary currently serves on the Board of Directors of ITC Holdings, Inc., Nashville Business Committee for the Arts, the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, and the Nashville Opera. She is also a member of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and the Les Amis d’Escoffier Society. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines, Scottish Re, Ltd. (a financial services and reinsurance company), and AlChemix, ICF Kaiser International, Inc., an international engineering, construction and consulting company and the AES Company, a global power producer. She has also served on the non-profit boards of the World Wildlife Fund, Morehouse College, and the Arms Control Association.
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