Local leaders paid tribute to Madeleine Albright Wednesday, speaking admiringly of her principles, her trailblazing accomplishments and the time she made for mentorship — from college students to newly elected politicians.

Albright, who died of cancer Wednesday at the age of 84, was a child refugee from Nazi- and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe. She rose to become the first female Secretary of State of the United States.

Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline told GBH News on Wednesday that he had the “privilege” of working with her on several occasions.

“She was an extraordinary woman, broke the ceiling of being the first woman Secretary of State but was also a voice for democracy and human rights around the world, warned about the growing totalitarianism around the world and our responsibility to stand up for our democracy,” Cicilline said. “We’ve lost a great intellect, a great leader, a magnificent person and I feel very privileged to have known her.”

A lifelong Democrat who nonetheless worked to bring Republicans into her orbit, Albright was nominated in 1996 by President Bill Clinton to be America's top diplomat, elevating her from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, where she had been only the second woman to hold that job.

Before her success in politics, Albright studied at Wellesley College and graduated in 1959. Stacie Goddard, a political science professor, now directs the college’s Albright Institute for Global Affairs.

“She talked about Wellesley as the place that really made her who she was,” said Goddard, “both through her friendships, and through what she learned; and in many ways, I think she would describe her experience at Wellesley in the Boston area as really kind of setting the foundation for who she became.”

Goddard said Albright was “incredibly active” in the institute, which selects 40 juniors and seniors for an intensive training in global affairs each year, and that she was committed to empowering young women.

“She would think about how she could help them in their careers. She was always willing to share her own stories, diplomatic or personal,” Goddard said. “She was somebody who approached her career believing that diplomacy was about showing empathy and having humor, even in difficult situations. But she would also still stand by her principles. She never lost sight of that…and I think it's something that honestly became a model for all of us that got a chance to interact with her.”

Albright's reputation for mentorship extended beyond her alma mater. In a statement on her passing, Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton said that he sought out her advice on several occasions.

“Few people have done more to serve our country,” Moulton wrote, “yet she was also tireless in her retirement, investing in the next generation as a teacher, mentor, and friend. She will be missed, not only for her history-making, public moments, but also in the quiet times, in the classroom or in late-night consultations, guiding the next generation of diplomats.

“I have the fondest memories of sitting around her living room with titans of foreign policy and young amateurs like myself during my first years in Congress,” he continued. “Every time I called her for advice, she would take more time than I ever imagined, and then ask when I would call next.”

Goddard cited Albright’s experiences as an immigrant as shaping her outlook on foreign policy as well as her views of her own responsibility in the United States. Goddard recalled the memories Albright had shared of being a refugee: leaving Czechoslovakia before World War II, living in London during the Blitz, then returning to her home country after the war before ultimately moving to the United States to escape communism.

“This might sound somewhat corny, but it was very sincere — there's a reason she was committed to public service and the United States,” Goddard said, “and I think that's because she felt really deeply, it was one place, if not the only place, in the world where somebody like her could make a home, and somebody like her could become a secretary of state.”

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.