The first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State has passed away.
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Madeleine Albright's family shared the news in a short statement on Wednesday, saying the 84-year-old died after battling cancer and was "surrounded by family and friends" at the time of her passing. "We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend," the statement said.
Albright was born in Prague as Marie Jana Korbelova, coming to the U.S. in 1948 as a refugee, her family said. She was the daughter of a diplomat, Joseph Korbel. Albright's family was Jewish and converted to Roman Catholicism when she was five years old. Three of her Jewish grandparents died in concentration camps.
It was not immediately clear what type of cancer Albright had.
"Madeleine Albright was truly an incredible figure in American foreign policy history," said William Burke-White, Deputy Dean and Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School who served on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's policy planning staff for two years and senior fellow at Brookings Institution.
Albright was appointed as the country's top foreign policy maker by then-President Bill Clinton, serving in the prestigious position from 1997-2001. Before that, Clinton named Albright U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1993. During her time in office, Albright oversaw the expansion of NATO and pioneered U.S. policy in the Middle East, among other achievements.
"She was relatively unknown until Bill Clinton chose her to be our ambassador to the U.N. and then our Secretary of State," Burke-White told KCBS Radio's Jeff Bell on Wednesday. "She broke all of the glass ceilings of U.S. foreign policy that existed for so long in both of those roles. In doing so, she really created a legacy of America as a beacon of human rights in the world."
She was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2012.
"In her view, (the U.S.) was indispensable," Burke-White explained of Albright's tenure as Secretary of State following the Cold War. "It couldn't happen if we weren't at the table helping make it happen."
In an interview with CBS News in 2010, Albright descrbied herself "an optimist who worries a lot." After leaving office, she criticized President George W. Bush's approach to diplomacy and said Bush "had driven away moderate Arab leaders and created potential for a dangerous rift with European allies," according to reporting by The Associated Press.
Albright later headed a global strategy firm and was chair of an investment advisory company that focused on emerging markets.
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