Hazel R. O'Leary

1994 Honoree

On January 22,1993, Hazel R. O'Leary became the seventh U.S. Secretary of Energy. Under the Clinton Administration, Hazel R. O'Leary oversees 20,000 employees with an estimated budget of 520 billion. Her main goal is to carry out the president's mission of energy conservation and innovation. When asked, about the challenges that faced her, she said, "I have been training for this job for about 20 years."

A native of Newport News, Virginia, O'Leary graduated with honors from Fisk University in Tennessee and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society. Then this brilliant woman earned a law degree at Rutgers University in New Jersey and served as an assistant attorney general and assistant prosecutor in that state. A former partner at Coopers and Lybrand, Mrs. O'Leary served as General Counsel of United States Community Services Administration.

She was a presidential appointee for the Federal Energy Administration under President Gerald Ford. When President Carter organized the government's efforts into the Department of Energy, he appointed O'Leary to head the Department of Energy's Economic Regulatory Administration.

From 1981 to 1989, she was vice president and general counsel of O'Leary Associates. This com pany's main focus was international economics as it relates to energy.

In 1989, O'Leary joined the Minnesota Northern State Power Company as its executive vice president for environmental and public affairs. She was responsible for both legal and personnel departments, as well as the corporation's lobbying efforts.

O'Leary is very active in her community, serving on numerous boards such as the Executive Leadership Council, an organization for African- American corporate executives.