Dear Wellesley community,
I was deeply saddened to learn this afternoon of the passing of Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59.
While the world mourns the loss of a towering figure in international relations and the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, at Wellesley College we also mourn the loss of a tremendously devoted alumna and a dear friend.
Madeleine’s childhood as a refugee defined her view of the world: Her family fled Czechoslovakia twice, to escape first the Nazi occupation and then the Communist seizure of power in 1948. As a result, she believed fiercely in the value of democracy and understood that it must be defended.
Her time at Wellesley, where she majored in political science, was also defining for her. She cherished her Wellesley experience and the lifelong friends she made here, saying about her undergraduate years, “I learned an awful lot about myself: that I wanted to use the fine education I’d received for something more than meaningful table conversation…that I wanted to give something back to this country that had given so much to me.”
One of the ways she gave back, of course, was by passing on her wisdom, especially to Wellesley students. In 2009, she and the College founded the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College. Under three brilliant faculty directors—Joseph Joyce, Takis Metaxas, and now Stacie Goddard—and thanks to a dedicated staff, the Albright Institute has thrived, pioneering a distinctive, interdisciplinary approach to educating women for leadership in global affairs. An essential ingredient of the institute’s success was Madeleine’s determination to invite her extensive network of colleagues and friends to come to Wellesley and share their perspectives on foreign affairs with our students.
The 40 students selected as Albright Fellows every year were a special focus of hers. She arranged lectures by global leaders that deepened fellows’ understanding of complex global problems. She critiqued their group presentations at the end of the January programs, and she also met with them in informal sessions, sharing her wisdom about life and work and the world. Today, there are more than 500 alumnae of the Albright Institute, who are using all that they learned as Albright Fellows to make positive changes in the world.
As Stacie Goddard, director of the Albright Institute, said, “The Albright Institute doesn’t just bear Secretary Albright’s name. It carries her spirit. Madeleine Albright taught us that being a diplomat means approaching even the most difficult problems with empathy and humor, without abandoning your principles along the way. She showed us that good leadership isn’t about any single individual, but about collaboration and cooperation across our differences.”
One of my favorite memories since coming to Wellesley is having the honor of moderating a discussion in Alumnae Hall in 2019 with Madeleine and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ’69, who were on campus for their class reunions. Both wonderful storytellers, they kept the audience laughing—and they left no doubt about how important Wellesley College was to their remarkable trajectories.
Madeleine modeled for all of us what a life of engagement really is. After leaving government service in 2001, she wrote seven bestselling books, taught diplomacy at Georgetown University, and, just a month ago, wrote a powerful op-ed for the New York Times on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine. She was the absolute embodiment of the Wellesley motto Non Ministrari sed Ministrare.
We will miss her presence on campus, her warmth, her humor and humanity, and her advice and her friendship. Our hearts go out to her family and friends in this time of loss.
Sincerely,
Paula A. Johnson
President
