Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to speak at Notre Dame | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to speak at Notre Dame Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to speak at Notre Dame Published: April 26, 2022 Author: Dennis Brown Condoleezza Rice “A Conversation With: Condoleezza Rice,” hosted by University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., and featuring the 66th U.S. Secretary of State and Notre Dame alumna discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, women’s leadership, the 50th anniversary of women undergraduates at Notre Dame and collegiate athletics, will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday (April 28) in the Jordan Auditorium of the Mendoza College of Business. The event is free and open to the campus and broader communities on a first-come-first-served basis. It will be live-streamed at go.nd.edu/RiceEvent. Rice was a member of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2001 before stepping down when she was appointed national security adviser by President George W. Bush. She served in that role for four years before becoming secretary of state in 2005. She was the first Black woman to serve as the nation’s top diplomat and remained in that position throughout President Bush’s second term. An expert on Soviet/Russian and Eastern European affairs, Rice has spoken forcefully in recent weeks on Russia’s war on Ukraine. “It’s disastrous for the liberal world order,” she told NPR shortly after the war began. “It's disastrous for Europe. It’s disastrous for all the values that we hold dear. And that’s why we can’t let Ukraine lose. Ukraine is the last defensible territory between the Russian military and our (NATO) Article 5 (security) commitments to the Baltic states and Poland and Romania, and so I think we have to throw everything at it that we can that the (Biden) administration believes will not widen the war, do it as quickly as we can.” Rice earned her master’s degree from Notre Dame in government and international studies in 1975. Prior to her service on the University’s Board, she was a member of the advisory council for Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters. She received an honorary doctor of laws degree and was the principal speaker at Notre Dame’s 1995 University Commencement Ceremony, and she joined President Bush on the platform during the May 2001 Commencement, when the president received an honorary degree and delivered the principal address. Rice was a featured speaker at the tribute to the late Notre Dame President, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., following his funeral Mass on March 4, 2015. She also spoke at the unveiling in 2017 of a U.S. Postal Service stamp in honor of Father Hesburgh, and in 2019 in a newsmaker conversation with John Kerry, secretary of state in the Obama administration. She is the recipient of an honorary Notre Dame monogram. Father Jenkins served from 2017 to 2018 on the Commission on College Basketball, a 14-member body chaired by Rice that examined all aspects of Division I men’s basketball in the wake of FBI investigations into the sport. Rice earned her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Denver. She is a member of the Stanford University political science faculty and served as the university’s provost for six years in the 1990s. She is now the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Posted In: University News Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 15, 2022 Lilly Endowment Inc. grant helps to expand Notre Dame pre-college programs for Hoosier high school students September 13, 2022 Notre Dame observes Hispanic Heritage Month with events around campus July 22, 2022 Roxanne Gregg named executive director of Notre Dame TRIO programs July 08, 2022 University of Notre Dame hosts 2022 Latina/o Studies Association Conference June 23, 2022 Notre Dame to honor pioneers of Irish women’s athletics For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn