Hazel R. O'Leary

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.

Category:1937 births
Category:Living people
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:United States Secretaries of Energy
Category:Politicians from Virginia
Category:People from Newport News, Virginia