O'Leary was announced as the 14th president of Fisk University, becoming the leader of her historically Black alma mater.
On February 10, 2004, Hazel R. O'Leary was officially announced as the 14th president of Fisk University, the historically Black institution in Nashville, Tennessee, from which she had earned her own undergraduate degree decades earlier in 1959.
This appointment represented a full-circle moment in O'Leary's career, bringing her extensive experience in law, energy policy, and federal government leadership back to the academic institution that had shaped her early education. Her selection as president reflected the university's confidence in her ability to bring high-level administrative and fundraising experience to an HBCU navigating financial and enrollment challenges common to many historically Black colleges and universities in the early 2000s.
O'Leary's appointment was widely covered in higher education and African American press as a significant moment for HBCU leadership, given her stature as a former U.S. Cabinet secretary. Her presidency, which she held from 2004 to 2013, focused on strengthening Fisk's financial stability, academic programs, and national visibility.
This announcement is a key milestone bridging O'Leary's government career and her later contributions to higher education, particularly in supporting the historically underfunded and under-resourced network of HBCUs in the United States.