After Dinner Speakers: Elizabeth Dole, Gordon Owen, Ultra Nate

Elizabeth Dole has had a remarkable public service career, serving five United States Presidents and winning 54% of the vote in November 2002 to serve the people of North Carolina in the United States Senate. As Senator, Elizabeth Dole is focused on growing the economy and creating jobs, strengthening national security and rebuilding our military, improving education and making quality health care more affordable and accessible. Elizabeth Dole is committed to making North Carolina - and America - safer, stronger, healthier and more successful in the months and years ahead. She serves on the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Banking and Aging Committees. Elizabeth Dole has been named consistently by the Gallup Poll as one of the world's top ten most admired women every year since 1996. She was the first woman to serve as the departmental head of a branch of the military, the U.S. Coast Guard, when she was Secretary of Transportation. Elizabeth Dole currently serves in a volunteer position as the National Director of Education and Information for Hospice. A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole graduated with distinction from Duke University in 1958 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned a degree from Harvard Law School in 1965 and also holds a master's degree in education and government from Harvard. From 1969 to 1973, Elizabeth Dole served as Deputy Assistant to President Nixon for Consumer Affairs, beginning a career of dedication to public safety, for which she received the National Safety Council's Distinguished Service Award in 1989. Elizabeth Dole's resume includes six years (1973-1979) as a member of the Federal Trade Commission and two years (1981-1983) as Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison. In February 1983, Elizabeth Dole joined President Reagan's Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation - the first woman to hold that position. During her four-and-a-half years at Transportation, the United States enjoyed the safest period then to date in all three major transportation areas - rail, air, and highway. Elizabeth Dole was sworn in by President Bush as the nation's 20th Secretary of Labor in January 1989. She worked to increase safety and health in the workplace, advocated upgrading the skills of the American workforce, and played a key role in resolving the bitter 11-month Pittston Coal Strike in southwest Virginia.