Condoleeza Rice enrolled at the University of Denver at the age of 15, graduating at 19 with a bachelor’s degree in political science (cum laude). She earned a master’s degree at the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. Both of her advanced degrees are also in political science. Rice went to Stanford University in 1981 as a fellow in the arms control and disarmament program.

In 1989, she was director of Soviet and East European affairs with the National Security Council. She also was appointed special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for Soviet affairs at the National Security Council under President George Bush. In those roles, she helped bring democratic reforms to Poland, and played a vital role in crafting many of the Bush administration’s policies with the former Soviet Union.

From January 2005 to 2009, Rice served as the 66th United States Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. Prior to that, she served as National Security Advisor from 2001 to 2005. She was the first woman and first African American woman to hold these positions. Before her service in the Bush administration, Rice was a professor of Political Science at Stanford University and served on the faculty for over two decades.