Secretary Madeline Albright's National Cathedral Memorial Service

Hundreds of friends, colleagues attend.

(Washington- April 27, 2022) Secretary Madeleine Korbel Albright was a decades-long friend to the Washington National Cathedral and its affiliated schools. She chaired the board of the Beauvoir School in the 1970s, all three of her daughters attended Beauvoir and graduated from the National Cathedral School, and at the time of her death she was a member of the Cathedral Chapter (the institution’s governing board).

More than 1,400 people attended the service including current and former U.S. government officials, U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, Foreign Ministers, Ambassadors and State Department colleagues at all levels of the government; a large bipartisan Congressional delegation and colleagues from all aspects of her life and career as well as family and friends.

Officiating Clergy

• The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Washington
  • The spiritual leader for 88 Episcopal congregations and 10 Episcopal schools in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties. The first woman elected to this position, she also serves as the chair and president of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation.
• The Very Reverend Randolph Marshall Hollerith, Dean, Washington National Cathedral

o   11^th Dean of the National Cathedral

• The Reverend Canon Rosemarie Logan Duncan, Canon for Worship, Washington National Cathedral

Committal Clergy

• The Reverend Virginia K. Gerbasi, Rector, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
  •  Secretary Albright regularly attended St. John’s Episcopal Church in Georgetown
• The Reverend John R. Unger II, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
  • Secretary Albright often attended St. John’s Episcopal Church in Harpers Ferry, which is near her farm in Hillsboro, Virginia

Tributes

• The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Forty-Sixth President of the United States
• The Honorable William J. Clinton, Forty-Second President of the United States
• The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sixty-seventh U.S. Secretary of State

Secretary Albright’s daughters will speak in birth order (Anne and Alice are identical twins)

• Anne K. Albright, Judge, Maryland Court of Special Appeals
• Alice P. Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation an independent U.S. Government development agency working to reduce global poverty through economic growth
• Katharine M. Albright, President and Chief Executive Officer of Safe & Sound, a San Francisco-based children's advocacy organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and reduce its devastating impact.

Readers

• Winifred S. Freund, Wellesley College Class of 1959
  • Secretary Albright’s closest friend and college classmate
• Rabbi David N. Saperstein, Former United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
  • Secretary Albright worked closely with Rabbi Saperstein on international religious freedom issues during her time in office and after.
• The Honorable Wendy R. Sherman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
  • A friend of more than 35 years, Sherman  served as Counselor to Secretary Albright at the U.S. Department of State.
• The Honorable Condoleezza Rice, Sixty-sixth U.S. Secretary of State and a student of Secretary Albright’s father, Josef Korbel, at the University of Denver.

Intercessors

• Suzanne A. George, Chief of Staff at the U.S. State Department
  • George worked with Secretary Albright for nearly 20 years, serving as her Deputy Chief of Staff while she was Secretary of State, and her Chief of Staff after leaving government.  Together with Secretary Albright, she built a global advisory firm and an investment firm bearing Albright’s name. 
• The Honorable Susan E. Rice, Assistant to the President and the Director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council, The White House
  • Secretary Albright was a close friend of Rice’s parents, Lois Dickson Rice and Emmett J. Rice. Rice grew up with Secretary Albright’s daughters, all attending National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. Throughout her career, Secretary Albright was a mentor for Rice,  spanning her tenure as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the State Department to U.S. Ambassador to the UN to U.S. National Security Advisor. 

The pallbearers are former members of Secretary Albright’s Diplomatic Security Service and protective detail from her time as both U.S. Ambassador to the UN and as Secretary of State.

 

Honorary Pallbearers include family, friends, and leaders of organizations for which  Secretary Albright volunteered or partnered:

• A. Katherine Silva, known as Kathy Silva, sister of Secretary Albright  
• John J. Korbel, brother of Secretary Albright
• The Honorable María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, former Foreign Minister of El Salvador (1999-2004). 
  • “Mayu” de Avila was a colleague of Secretary Albright’s and is an active member of the Aspen Ministers’ Forum (AMF), a group of former Foreign Ministers founded by Secretary Albright and sponsored by the Aspen Institute that works to strengthen diplomatic ties and support key institutions around the world. More than a dozen members of AMF will be in attendance at the funeral service.
• James S. Crown, Chairman of the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees
  • Secretary Albright served on the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees starting in 2002, and helped establish Aspen Central Europe based in Prague. 
• The Honorable Thomas A. Daschle, Chair of the National Democratic Institute (NDI)
  • Secretary Albright was present at the creation of NDI 40 years ago, when she served as the Institute’s founding Vice-Chair and helped shape NDI’s work to build the “infrastructure of democracy” around the world from its earliest stages. In addition to serving as Chair for the past two decades, Secretary Albright led innumerable NDI election observation missions in every corner of the globe and worked to bring women from diverse backgrounds into the democratic process. 
• Dr. John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University
  • Secretary Albright joined the faculty of Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1982. Over the last 40 years, she taught over 2,000 students in human rights advocacy and diplomacy. Her “National Security Tool Box” class was one of the most sought after courses on campus, and she was a frequent winner of the school’s “Outstanding Professor” award. 
• Jacob M. Freedman, Chief of Staff to Secretary Albright
  • Jacob has worked for Secretary Albright since 2014, serving as her speechwriter, policy advisor and Chief of Staff.
• Paula A. Johnson, M.D., President of Wellesley College
  • Secretary Albright cherished her four years at Wellesley College, where she majored in Political Science. A devoted alumna, she founded the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College in 2009 to help train future generations of global leaders. 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.
• Maria A. Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize recipient
  • Secretary Albright first met the journalist Ressa through the National Democratic Institute, and helped bring attention to her unjustified prosecution by authorities in the Philippines. Resa joins in absentia. 
• Dan K. Rosenthal, Managing Principal of Albright Stonebridge Group
  • Rosenthal worked in the Clinton Administration and is the managing principal of Albright Stonebridge Group, the global advisory firm chaired by Secretary Albright. 
• George C. Rowland, Senior General Services Officer in the Secretary of State's Executive Office
  • Rowland began working at the State Department for Secretary Schulz 38 years ago. He worked closely with Secretary Albright for 8 years while she served as both U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State. 
• Elaine K. Shocas, Chief of Staff to Secretary Albright at the U.S. Department of State
  • After leaving public office, Secretary Albright and Shocas continued to work together on issues related to cultural diplomacy. Shocas was a driving force in the creation of Secretary Albright’s book “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box” and the accompanying exhibit of her pin collection, which toured across the United States for nine years and will be on permanent exhibition at the State Department’s National Museum of American Diplomacy. 
• The Honorable Dan Sullivan, Chair of the International Republican Institute (IRI)
  • Secretary Albright worked closely with IRI’s former Chairman, U.S. Senator John McCain, and with current IRI Chairman U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, to ensure bipartisan support for American efforts to support democratic development around the world.
• Bill Woodward, Co-author 
  • Secretary Albright met Bill Woodward on the Dukakis campaign, where he served as Chief Speechwriter. For nearly three decades, he worked with her throughout her time in government and in the years that followed, collaborating with her on each of her seven books. 
• Ambassador Michael Žantovský, Executive Director of the Vaclav Havel Library and Former Czech Ambassador to the United States
  • Zantovksy was a close associate of Vaclav Havel’s and Secretary Albright’s longtime friend.

Former teaching assistants of Secretary Albright’s classes over the past 20 years at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown University served as ushers. Secretary Albright began teaching at SFS in 1982 and returned there after her time in government service, training more than 2,000 students in the art of diplomacy. 

 

The music throughout the service represents various aspects of Secretary Albright’s life, including pieces by Czech composers, a hymn written by a Wellesley professor, and her favorite hymn, Hymn 607.  

Guest Musicians included:

• Herbie Hancock, Piano

o   Secretary Albright met Herbie Hancock in 1997, when she hosted the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (formerly Thelonious Monk Institute) in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State. They became good friends, bonding over the shared belief that jazz is a universal language of freedom and that jazz musicians have been some of America’s best global ambassadors. Over the decades, the two worked on many projects together including jazz education for students around the world, and in establishing every April 30th as United Nations/UNESCO International Jazz Day. 




• Chris Botti, Trumpet
  •  In 2012, Secretary Albright joined Chris Botti, a multiple Grammy Award winning trumpeter and band leader, backstage at the Kennedy Center before a Valentine’s Day concert, where he promptly invited her to come on-stage and play the drums. Although she had never played a percussion instrument in her life, she immediately said “Yes.” With the help of the regular drummer Billy Kilson, she rapped the drums with flair and even hit the cymbals in the beautiful yet threatening piece “Nessun dorma” (“No one sleep”) from Puccini’s opera Turandot. When done, she kissed Botti twice and exited the stage with drumsticks held high. The press dubbed her “Stix.” Botti and Albright performed together again later that year when the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz recognized her for her work on behalf of cultural diplomacy.

• Judy Collins (unable to attend)
  • Secretary Albright became friends with Judy Collins in 1993 during her tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. On many occasions, Collins attended dinners at Albright’s official residence and, inevitably, was asked to perform. A Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, Collins serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and worked with Albright on many projects, including an effort to educate children around the world to the dangers of landmines. 
  • Collins was slated to perform one of Secretary Albright’s favorite songs, “Amazing Grace,” at the service, but is was unable to attend. 

Key Attendees:

In addition to those outlined above, a number of current government officials were in attendance, including: 

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
• U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
• U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough
• Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines
• CIA Director Bill Burns
• National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
• USAID Administrator Samantha Power
• General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

Former officials include: 

• Former President Barack H. Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama 
• Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
• Former U.S.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
• Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter
• Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
• Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen

Congressional Leaders: 

• Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi
• House Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Steny Hoyer
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
• A large bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and House of Representatives

More than 100 members of the diplomatic corps and a number of former foreign minister colleagues, as well as several foreign leaders attended including: 

• Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia
• Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of Kosovo
• Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo
• Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
• Marta Lucia Ramirez, Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia
• Bisera Turkovicm, Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Miloš Vystrčil, President of the Czech Senate
• Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs, of the Czech Republic

From humble beginnings to accomplished, revered female with an esteemed career.

Secretary Madeleine K. Albright was born on May 15, 1937, in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her father, Josef, was a member of the Czechoslovak Foreign Service and served as press attaché in Belgrade, Yugoslavia and later became Ambassador to Yugoslavia. When she was an infant, her family was forced by the Nazis to flee Prague. After the communist coup in 1948, the family immigrated to the United States and eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. Albright became a U.S. citizen in 1957, and earned a B.A. in political science with honors from Wellesley College in 1959. She earned a Ph.D. in Public Law and Government at Columbia University in 1976, as well as a Certificate from its Russian Institute.

Secretary Albright served as chief legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME) from 1976 to 1978. From 1978 to 1981, she served as a staff member in the White House under President Jimmy Carter and on the National Security Council staff under National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.

In 1982 she was appointed Research Professor of International Affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Director of its Women in Foreign Service Program. From 1989 to 1992, she served as President of the Center for National Policy. In 1993 she was appointed Ambassador to the United Nations by President Clinton and served in the position until her appointment as Secretary of State in 1997. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 99 to 0 on January 22, 1997, and sworn in the next day. She became, at that time, the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. She served in the position for four years and ended her service on January 20, 2001. 

As Secretary of State, Albright championed America’s alliances, promoted the expansion of NATO, supported non-proliferation efforts, successfully pressed for intervention in Kosovo in 1999, and supported the expansion of free trade and democracy.

After leaving government, Secretary Albright returned to the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service as a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, and co-founded Albright Stonebridge Group, part of Dentons Global Advisors, and Albright Capital Management. She continued her lifelong commitment to public service by serving as Chair of the National Democratic Institute and President of the Truman Scholarship Foundation. She was a lifetime trustee of The Aspen Institute, where she established the Aspen Minister’s Forum to strengthen diplomatic ties and develop concrete policy recommendations to support key international institutions. In 2009, she established the Albright Institute at Wellesley College to shape the next generation of global leaders. In 2021, she was appointed Chair of the Defense Policy Board. Through it all, Secretary Albright remained a forceful advocate for supporting refugees, strengthening international institutions, and investing in American diplomacy.  

Albright, the author.

Secretary Albright was a seven-time New York Times bestselling author. Her most recent book, Hell and Other Destinations was published in April 2020. Her other books include her autobiography, Madam Secretary: A Memoir (2003); The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (2006); Memo to the President: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership (2008); Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box (2009); Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948 (2012), and Fascism: A Warning (2018).

Surviving family members.

 Secretary Albright is survived by her daughters Anne K. Albright (Geoffrey Watson), Alice P. Albright (Gregory Bowes), Katie Albright (Jake Schatz), and six grandchildren: David and Daniel Bowes, Jack and Jake Watson, Ben and Ellie Schatz. She is also survived by her sister Kathy Silva, her brother John Korbel (Pam Korbel), two nephews, Josef (Magdalena) and Peter Korbel, and a grandniece, Isadora Ana.