For Immediate Release
March 23, 2022
Contact: Executive Director Ásgeir Sigfússon | sigfusson@afsa.org

Washington, D.C. – The American Foreign Service Association mourns the passing of former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.

Secretary Albright broke a very persistent glass ceiling when she became our nation’s first female Secretary of State in 1997. It was neither the first or last “first” in her remarkable life. A native of Czechoslovakia who arrived in the United States as an immigrant in 1948, she never forgot what her adopted home country stood for and fought for those principles during her diplomatic career, which included service as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1993-1997.

Following her time at the State Department, Secretary Albright taught at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and served as the chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, where many Foreign Service alumni have worked over the years. She was the recipient of a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

AFSA sends its sincere condolences to Secretary Albright’s family, untold colleagues and friends around the world, and to the many students whose lives she touched. She will be fondly remembered by the Foreign Service community.

AFSA, the voice of the Foreign Service, is the professional association and labor union of the U.S. Foreign Service. Founded in 1924, AFSA represents 31,000 active and retired Foreign Service employees at the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, Foreign Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.