Condoleezza Rice, the 66th U.S. secretary of state, will speak at the 20th annual Westmont President’s Breakfast, 7-9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 28 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
Tickets at $175 per person go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31 at westmont.edu/breakfast. Seating is limited, and tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Rice, the Tad and Dianne Taube director of the Hoover Institution and a senior fellow on public policy, was the second woman and first black woman to become U.S. secretary of state.
Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s national security advisor, the first woman to hold the position.
She is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.
Rice served on President George H.W. Bush’s National Security Council staff, first as director, then as senior director of Soviet and East European affairs, and also as special assistant to the president for National Security.
In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice was a special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Rice has written and co-authored a number of books, including “To Build a Better World: Choices to End the Cold War and Create a Global Commonwealth” (2019); “Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom” (2017); “No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington” (2011); and “Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family” (2010).
As Stanford University’s provost from 1993-99, she served as the institution’s chief budget and academic officer, and has taught as a professor of political science since 1981.
In 1999, Rice spoke at Westmont’s commencement. In her talk, “The Responsibility of the Educated Christian,” she praised Westmont for educating the whole person and focusing on personal and spiritual growth as well as intellectual development.
She discussed freedom, democracy and education at the President’s Breakfast in 2011.
Other past President’s Breakfast speakers include the late Gen. Colin Powell, the late David McCullough, the late Daniel Kahneman, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Brooks, Walter Isaacson, Thomas Friedman, Robert Gates, Gen. Stan McChrystal, Gen. Michael Hayden, Peggy Noonan, Nancy Koehn, Michael Lewis, and Richard Haass.
The Westmont Foundation, local businesses and individuals sponsor the President’s Breakfast to promote discussion of significant issues. BMO is the Lead Sponsor this year.
Westmont offers thanks to U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. Gold Sponsors include Baker Hill, Bon Appétit Management Company, Canterbury Consulting, Central Coast Home Health and Hospice, Channel Wealth, Davies, The Eiler Family, David and Anna Grotenhuis, In Memory of Jim Haslem, HUB International, La Arcada Plaza, MATT Construction, Nick and Drew Parisi, Providence School Santa Barbara, Reicker Pfau, Sunset + Magnolia Interior Design and George and Beth Wood Foundation.
To learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact Steve Baker, Westmont associate vice president for advancement, 805-565-7156.