Hazel Reid O'Leary (born May 17, 1937) was the seventh United States Secretary of Energy , from 1993 to 1997. She is the first woman and first and only African American to hold the position.
Early life and education
Born Hazel Reid in Newport News, Virginia , she was the daughter of doctors Russell E. and Hazel Reid. She has two sisters, Edna Reid and Marina Morse; and two brothers, Louis and William Morse.
After earning a bachelor's degree at Fisk University in Nashville , O'Leary earned her law degree from Rutgers School of Law—Newark .
Marriage and family
Reid married John F. O'Leary on April 24, 1980. He was a former deputy energy secretary and died in 1987. They have a son named Carl.
Career
O'Leary worked as a prosecutor in New Jersey and later worked for the consulting /accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand . During the Carter Administration , O'Leary was made assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration , general counsel of the Community Services Administration , and administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration at the Department of Energy .
In 1981, O'Leary and her husband established the consulting firm of O'Leary & Associates , where she served as vice president and general counsel. From 1989 to 1993, she worked as an executive vice president of the Northern States Power Company .
In 1993 President Bill Clinton picked O'Leary as Secretary of Energy.
In 2004, O'Leary was selected as President of her undergraduate alma mater Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee .
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