Secretary of State here on 50th anniversary of Marshall Plan speech

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright will be the principal speaker during the Afternoon Exercises at the University's 346th Commencement on Thursday, June 5.

"Secretary Albright is a diplomat, a scholar, and a leader of rare distinction and accomplishment," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "She stands at the forefront of United States foreign policy during an era of significant transition in world affairs, and we are honored that she has accepted our invitation to speak at Commencement.

"Her visit comes at an especially fitting moment for Harvard, as the university's international agenda occupies an increasing share of our attention, and as we mark the fiftieth anniversary of a visit to Cambridge by another Secretary of State -- General George C. Marshall, who announced the Marshall Plan from Harvard's Commencement platform in 1947," Rudenstine said. "We very much look forward to welcoming Secretary Albright to Harvard in June."

"I'm very pleased and excited that our graduating students, faculty, alumni, and others in the Harvard community will have the chance to hear from Secretary Albright at Commencement," said Carl H. Pforzheimer III, president of the Harvard Alumni Association. "She is clearly a major figure on the world stage, and someone who will give all of us much to think about as we try to adapt ourselves to a world where what happens each day in places around the globe affects us in new and powerful ways."

Albright has served as the nation's 64th Secretary of State since her swearing-in on Jan. 23, 1997, following unanimous confirmation by the Senate. Previously, she served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, assuming that post in February 1993, and as a member of President Clinton's Cabinet and the National Security Council. Albright is the first woman to serve as Secretary of State, and the highest-ranking female official in the U.S. government.

Harvard's principal speaker on Commencement Day traditionally addresses the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. The meeting is held on the afternoon of Commencement Day, following the morning exercises, during which degrees are awarded. This year's Commencement Week activities will also feature a symposium marking the 50th anniversary of Secretary of State George C. Marshall's announcement at Harvard's Commencement in 1947 of the post-World War II foreign aid program that became known as the Marshall Plan. Cohosted by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the symposium on June 3-4, titled "Retrospect and Renewal: U.S.-European Cooperation Fifty Years After the Marshall Plan," will feature panels of scholars and public figures from the U.S. and Europe who will discuss the history of the plan and its implications for issues of international relations today.

Principal Harvard Commencement speakers in recent years have included Harold Varmus, director of the National Institutes of Health (1996); Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic (1995); Vice President Albert Gore (1994); Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993); Gro Harlem Bruntland, prime minister of Norway (1992); Eduard Shevardnadze, former foreign minister for the Soviet Union, and Derek Bok, president of Harvard University (1991); and Helmut Kohl, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1990).