O'Leary, Hazel Rollins, 1937-

Hazel Rollins O'Leary was born May 17, 1937 in Newport News, Virginia. She received a B.A. from Fisk University in 1959. She received a J.D. from Rutgers University in 1966. She was Assistant Attorney General, State of New Jersey, from 1967 to 1968. She was later a partner in the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand. During the Jimmy Carter administration, she was assistant administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, general counsel of the Community Services Administration, and administrator of the Economic Regulatory Administration at the Department of Energy from 1979 to 1980. In 1981, O'Leary established with her husband the consulting firm of O'Leary & Associates, serving as vice president and general counsel. From 1989 to 1993, she worked as an executive vice president of the Northern States Power Company. She was nominated to be Secretary of Energy January 20, 1993, confirmed on January 21, 1993, and served January 22, 1993 to January 20, 1997. During her term as Secretary of Energy, she was often accused of traveling too frequently and spending lavishly on her accommodations. She apologized to Congressional committees in 1996 for spending which exceeded limits on the funds appropriated for travel and resigned in January 1997. It was later revealed that "Chinagate" scandal figure John Chung claimed that O'Leary met with Chinese oil officials after Chung had donated $25,000 to O'Leary's favorite charity Africare. Attorney General Janet Reno refused to authorize an investigation of this charge, however. From 2001 to 2002 she served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Blaylock & Partners, L.P., an African-American investment-banking firm in New York. On July 13, 2004, she was appointed President of her undergraduate alma mater, the historically black Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.