The following is a brief introduction to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will be co-chairing with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo the "Strategic Track" of the first round of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), which is to be held in Washington, D.C. from July 27 to 28.

Clinton was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 26, 1947. She attended local public schools before graduating from Wellesley College and Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton.

In 1974, Clinton moved to Arkansas, a year later then married Bill Clinton and became a successful attorney while also raising their daughter, Chelsea.

She was an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, and after working to strengthen the local legal aid office, she was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to serve on the board of the Legal Services Corporation, which she later chaired.

During her 12 years as First Lady of the State of Arkansas, she was Chairwoman of the Arkansas Education Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, and the Children's Defense Fund.

In 1992, Governor Clinton was elected President of the United States, and as First Lady, Hillary Clinton became an advocate of health care reform and worked on many issues relating to children and families.

In 2000, Clinton made history as the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate, and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

In 2006, Senator Clinton won reelection to the Senate, and in 2007 she began her historic campaign for President. In 2008, she campaigned for the election of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and in November, she was nominated by president-elect Obama to be Secretary of State.

On January 21, 2009, Clinton was sworn in as the 67th Secretary of State of the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2009)