Jill Biden | |
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Second Lady of the United States | |
In role January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 |
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President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Lynne Cheney |
Succeeded by | Karen Pence |
Personal details | |
Born |
Jill Tracy Jacobs June 3, 1951 Hammonton, New Jersey, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Bill Stevenson (1970–1976) Joe Biden (1977–present) |
Children | Ashley (with Biden) |
Education |
University of Delaware, Newark (BA, EdD) West Chester University (MEd) Villanova University (MA) |
Signature |
Jill Tracy Biden (née Jacobs, previously Stevenson; born June 5, 1951) is an American educator. She is married to the 47th Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, and was the Second Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
She was born in Hammonton, New Jersey, and grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. She married fellow Pennsylvania native Joe Biden in 1977, and became stepmother to his two young sons from his first marriage, Beau and Hunter, whose mother and baby sister died in a car accident in 1972. Joe and Jill Biden have a daughter, Ashley, born in 1981.
Jill Biden has a bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware, master's degrees from West Chester University and Villanova University, and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware. She taught English and reading in high schools for 13 years, and also taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. From 1993 to 2008, she was an English and writing instructor at Delaware Technical & Community College. Since 2009, she has been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College and is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband was Vice President. She is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founder of the Book Buddies program, is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, and is co-founder of Joining Forces with First Lady Michelle Obama.