Madeleine Albright to Speak at Pittsburgh Middle East Institute’s Third Annual Conference - Nov. 10, 2010

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright will speak at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. Albright’s lecture will be the closing event of the day-long Third Annual Conference of the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute (PMEI).

"As we have done the past two years, we are committed to bring in speakers who are writers and thinkers and can inform audiences about the ideas that drive the mission of the Institute," said Simin Curtis, President of the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute.

Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. She is the author of four New York Times best-sellers. Her autobiography, Madam Secretary: A Memoir, was published in 2003, and her latest book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box, was published in 2009.

Albright was the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. In 1997, she was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. From 1993 to 1997, Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She is a professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She chairs both the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the Pew Global Attitudes Project and serves as president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation. Albright serves on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Trustees for the Aspen Institute. In 2009, Albright was asked by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to chair a group of experts on NATO’s New Strategic Concept.

The Pittsburgh Middle East Institute is an independent, non-profit consortium of prominent civic institutions and corporations in Pittsburgh dedicated to promoting business, educational, and cultural ties between Pittsburgh and the countries of the Middle East. The Institute was launched in September 2008 with New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman and a conference on how to do business in the Middle East.

PMEI seeks to brand Pittsburgh in the Middle East and foster a greater understanding between the two cultures and advance a new generation of forward-thinking global leaders and visionary business partners.

For more information about the Pittsburgh Middle East Institute, go to www.pittsburghmideastinstitute.org or send email to info@pittsburghmideastinstitute.org