Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Hazel O’Leary Became the First Black Woman U.S. Secretary of Energy

Did you know that the first Black woman to serve as United States Secretary of Energy, who later became president of Fisk University, is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.? Her name is Hazel O’Leary, and her career of firsts both began and came full circle at the historically Black university in Tennessee.

Hazel Reid O’Leary was born on May 17, 1937, in Newport News, Virginia. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Fisk University, the historically Black university in Nashville, in 1959, and went on to earn her law degree from Rutgers University School of Law. According to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., O’Leary was initiated into the sorority through the Pi Chapter at Fisk University. Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded in 1908 at Howard University, the first Greek-letter organization established by Black college women.

O’Leary built a distinguished career in law, energy, and public service. She worked as a prosecutor in New Jersey, held senior positions at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Carter administration, and later became a top executive at a major energy company.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed her the seventh United States Secretary of Energy. As The HistoryMakers notes, she made history as the first woman and the first African American to hold the office, leading the department through 1997.

O’Leary’s journey came full circle in 2004, when she returned to her alma mater as the fourteenth president of Fisk University. She led the historically Black institution until 2013, helping guide it through challenging years and pouring back into the school that had launched her.

From the Pi Chapter at Fisk University to the President’s Cabinet and back to the Fisk presidency, Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Hazel O’Leary has spent her life breaking barriers and lifting up Black institutions.

We at Watch The Yard would like to commend Soror Hazel O’Leary for her historic career and her service to her alma mater.

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