Elizabeth H. Dole served as President of the American Red Cross form 1991-1999. During her remarkable public service career she has served six United States Presidents and been named by the Gallup Poll as one fo the World's most admired women.

A native of Salisbury, NC, Mrs. Dole graduated with distinction from Duke University, received her law degree from Harvard Law School and Masters in education and government from Harvard.

Mrs. Dole was Deputy Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, served five years as a member of the Federal Trade Commission and two years as Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liason. In 1983, she was named Secretary of Transportation--the first woman to hold that position. She became the nation's 20th Secretary of Labor in 1989.

At the Red Cross, Mrs. Dole oversaw nearly 30,000 staff members and more than 1.5 million volunteers. She has initiated a number of steps to increase financial accountability so that currently, 93 cents of every dollar contributed goes directly to programs and services.

Following four years of record-breaking natural disasters, Mrs. Dole launched an aggressive disaster relief campaign that raised $353 million dollars to assist victims of such disasters as Hurricane Andrew and Iniki, the midwest floods, and California earthquakes. She has personally visited a number of Red Cross international relief operations including the Persian Gulf following the Gulf War, famine-stricken Somalia and Mozambique.

Since the Red Cross provides half of the nation's blood supply, four month's into her presidency, Mrs. Dole secured approval of the organization's Board of Governors to launch a sweeping state-of-the-art blood system to quickly and efficiently incorporate medical technology as it evolves. In 1994, Mrs. Dole received the Maxwell Finland Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases for her efforts to ensure the safety of the American blood supply as a standard for the world.