Jill Biden

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 is Vice President. She is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founded the Book Buddies program, and is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground.

Jill Tracy Jacobs was born in Hammonton, New Jersey. Moving several times while very young, she and her four younger sisters spent the majority of their childhood in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Her father, Donald C. Jacobs (1927–1999), was a bank teller who became head of a savings and loan in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. His family name had originally been Giacoppa before her Italian grandfather anglicized it. Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs (1930–2008), was a homemaker. The family was not particularly religious, but in ninth grade, Jacobs independently took classes in order to join the Presbyterian church. Read Less

It has been rare for Second Ladies to work while their spouses serve as Vice President, and Biden is thought to be the first Second Lady to hold a paying job while her husband is Vice President. Biden planned to be a public advocate for the importance of community colleges and to advise the Obama administration on issues related to them. In White House announcements and by her preference, she is referred to as "Dr. Jill Biden".

Catherine Russell, a former adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was named Biden's chief of staff for her Second Lady role. Courtney O’Donnell, a former spokesperson for Howard Dean and Elizabeth Edwards, was named her communications director and Kirsten White, a lawyer at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, her policy director. As Second Lady, Biden has a staff of eight overall and occupies a corner suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Read Less