NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fisk University president Hazel O’Leary said Tuesday that she plans to continue helping the financially embattled institution after her retirement.
O’Leary spoke to reporters after announcing late last week that she’s retiring in December after eight years.
For at least two years, she has been involved in a legal battle over whether the university can sell a $30 million stake in an art collection donated to the school by the late American artist Georgia O’Keeffe to handle its financial needs.
O’Leary said Tuesday that she has “always been a generous donor to Fisk, and I intend to continue to do that.”
” I have said to my board of trustees … that I will do whatever,” said O’Leary, adding that she’s currently helping with a comprehensive fundraising campaign for the university.
The 74-year-old, who was U.S. Energy Secretary from 1993 to 1997, has been Fisk president since August 2004.
In Washington, O’Leary was the first woman and black to head the Energy Department. She has been credited with helping persuade President Bill Clinton to end testing of nuclear weapons.
