Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937) is a Czechoslovakian-born American politician and diplomat. She is the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State. She was nominated by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997.Albright currently serves as a professor of International Relations at Georgetown University's Edmund A.