Jill Biden Fast Facts

Here is a look at the life of Jill Biden, wife of 46th US President Joe Biden.

Personal

Birth date: June 3, 1951

Birth place: Hammonton, New Jersey

Birth name: Jill Tracy Jacobs

Father: Donald Jacobs, banker

Mother: Bonny Jean (Godfrey) Jacobs

Marriages: Joe Biden (June 17, 1977-present); Bill Stevenson (1970-1975, divorced)

Children: with Joe Biden: Ashley

Education: University of Delaware, B.A., English, 1975; West Chester University, M.Ed, 1981; Villanova University, M.A. English, 1987; University of Delaware, Ed.D, 2007

Religion: Roman Catholic

Other Facts

Biden has been an educator for decades. Taught in public high schools for 13 years. She also taught at a psychiatric hospital for adolescents.

The first first lady to have a job outside of the East Wing.

The first first lady to hold a doctorate degree.

Was a presenter on Jeopardy!

Has said Joe Biden proposed to her five times before she agreed to marry him.

She often runs five miles five days a week and has run in the Marine Corps Marathon.

Timeline

1991-1993 - Teaches at Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Delaware.

1993 - Starts the Biden Breast Health Initiative.

1993-2008 - Teaches English at Delaware Technical and Community College.

2009-present - English professor at Northern Virginia Community College.

January 20, 2009-January 20, 2017 - Second lady of the United States.

October 5, 2010 - Hosts the first ever White House Summit on Community Colleges with President Barack Obama.

April 2011 - Launches the national veterans’ campaign, “Joining Forces,” with Michelle Obama.

June 5, 2012 - “Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops,” a children’s book, is published.

September 9, 2015 - Appointed honorary chair of the College Promise Advisory Board. The board is created by Obama to promote at least two years of free community college.

February 1, 2017 - Launch of the Biden Foundation, an organization that focusing on seven issues: foreign policy; Biden’s cancer initiative; community colleges and military families; protecting children; equality; ending violence against women; and strengthening the middle class.

April 25, 2019 - The Biden Foundation suspends operations after Joe Biden announces he is running for president.

May 7, 2019 - Biden’s memoir, “Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself,” is published.

June 30, 2020 - Children’s book, “Joey: The Story of Joe Biden,” is published.

January 20, 2021 - Becomes the first lady of the United States.

May 8, 2022 - Biden makes an unannounced trip to Ukraine, which for the last 10 weeks has been under invasion by Russia. At a converted school that now serves as temporary housing for displaced citizens, Biden meets with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska.

January 11, 2023 - Has two cancerous lesions removed.

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