U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao will deliver the keynote address at Sweet Briar College’s 98th commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 12.
Chao, the nation’s 24th labor secretary, was appointed in 2001 by President Bush. Her distinguished government service includes several posts at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she rose to deputy secretary, as well as director of the Peace Corps.
In the non-profit and private sectors, Chao has served as president and chief executive officer of United Way of America and vice president of syndications at BankAmerica Capital Markets Group.
She also was a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Chao is a first-generation American, having emigrated from Taiwan with her family when she was 8. She is married to U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Sweet Briar professor of government and Louisville native Barbara Perry is serving a one-year fellowship at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center, which the senator established at his alma mater in 1991. Perry has met Chao, and was present when the university dedicated an auditorium in her name.
“She has a compelling biography — truly a story of the American dream come true,” Perry said. “She was so gracious about recognizing her parents, her husband and the people of Kentucky, who have embraced her.”
Chao also is an alumna of an all-women’s institution, Mount Holyoke College, where she received her undergraduate degree in economics. She earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
For more information, please visit
http://www.dol.gov/_sec/aboutosec/chao.htm .
