Secretary of state to visit Silicon Valley school

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 22, 2007 | by Sharon Noguchi

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday will visit James Flood School in Menlo Park and Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto as part of a two-day trip to California during which she will host the Australian minister for foreign affairs, Alexander Downer.

The Silicon Valley stop will include a visit to HP Labs and to the Center for a New Generation, which is based at the Flood school and offers after-school and summer programs for children in the Ravenswood City School District. Rice is a former Stanford University provost, and her late father founded the center 16 years ago.

Rice's press office said HP Labs was chosen to highlight valley innovation. HP said it would release more details Tuesday, but Rice is expected to meet with Mark Hurd, HP's chief executive officer.

The Center for a New Generation helps prepare students to succeed in college preparation classes.

Rice began the program when she was a political science professor at Stanford University and her father, John Wesley Rice Jr., was coordinating volunteer programs in East Palo Alto.

At the time, Condoleezza Rice said, "I believe in getting things up and running. If we could unify Germany in less than a year, we can do just as well for East Palo Alto."

Rice's stepmother, Clara Bailey Rice, was principal of the former Menlo Oaks School in Ravenswood.

Before heading north, Rice and Downer will make stops at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley and the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.

Australian government leaders have been some of the Bush administration's staunchest allies in Iraq.

Contact Sharon Noguchi at snoguchi@mercurynews.com or (408) 271- 3775.