I read in a newspaper 2-3 years ago, that Condoleezza Rice never
finished her Ph.D., that
she started at Stanford before she had actually defended her thesis
and never went back to defend. Is this true; Did she or did she not
finish her Ph.D. in 1981 as all the biographies say?

The newspaper article may have been in the San Jose Mercury News, but
I'm not sure and haven't been able to locate it.

Hello quasar_dude~

Thank you for your interesting question!

As all her biographies state, Rice recieved her Ph. D from the
University of Denver ("National Secutiry Advisor:"
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html; "Condoleezza Rice:"
http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Condoleezza_Rice )

The Chicago Tribune, among other prominent papers, mentions that Rice
"wrote her doctoral thesis on the Czechoslovakian army and its
relationship with the Soviet Union." ("Bush Taps Rice for State:"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0411170278nov17,1,2506435.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-utl&ctrack=1&cset=true
)

I suppose you could chalk all that up to bad information being spread
again and again by the press--except that the University of Denver
website mentions Rice as a "doctoral graduate." ("MA in Homeland
Security:" http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:FN8MfZKXRN0J:www.du.edu/gsis/programs/ma_professional_homeland_security.html+%22Condoleezza+Rice%22+%22University+of+Denver%22+thesis&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
).

Therefore, the Univserity itself acknowledges that she finished her Ph. D.

Kind regards,
Kriswrite

RESEARCH STRATEGY:
"Condoleezza Rice" Ph. D.
"Condoleezza Rice" "University of Denver"
"Condeleezza Rice" "University of Denver" phd

Hi,

I just looked on the website of the Penrose Library of the University
of Denver for an answer to this question. They list the following:

The Politics Of Client Command Party-Military Relations In
Czechoslovakia : 1948-1975 [Microform] : By Condoleezza Rice.
      The politics of client command [microform] : party-military
relations in Czechoslovakia : 1948-1975 / by Condoleezza Rice.;
Microforms, Storage ; PHD 1981 REEL 55

with a link to

http://bianca.penlib.du.edu/search/arice/arice%3BYa=1980%3BYb=1982%3BSORT=on/1%2C10%2C%2CE/frameset&FF=arice%3BYa=1980%3BYb=1982%3BSORT=on&8%2C8%2C

where the work is described as
Description: 
 iv, 373 leaves ; 28 cm. 
Note(s): 
 Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Denver, 1981. 
 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-364). 

So, it seems she wrote at least one ph.d. thesis, and that was on "The
Politics Of Client Command Party-Military Relations In Czechoslovakia
: 1948-1975".

Enjoy.