Dr. Jill Biden

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Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, wears many hats: she is a mother and grandmother, she has been an educator for three decades, she is a proud Blue Star mom, and an active member of her community. As Second Lady, Jill works to highlight the importance of community colleges, to raise awareness about the sacrifices made by military families, and to bring attention to women’s health issues, including breast cancer.

Jill also continues to teach English full-time at a community college not far from the White House.

Jill has always said that community colleges are “one of America’s best-kept secrets.” She is working hard to make sure that is no longer the case: President Obama has asked Jill to help promote community colleges around the country and she works consistently on this outreach on behalf of the Administration. This fall, she will host the first ever White House Summit on Community Colleges.

As a military mom, Jill understands first-hand how difficult it can be to have a loved one deployed overseas. In Delaware, she was active with a nonprofit organization called Delaware Boots on the Ground, which is dedicated to helping families during times of military deployment by organizing community events to raise awareness and support.

Now, as Second Lady, she has dedicated herself to shining a light on military families’ strength and courage as well as the challenges that they face. She travels regularly to military bases in both the United States and abroad to speak with soldiers and their families and to raise awareness for the special sacrifices that these Americans make.

Together with First Lady Michelle Obama, she has issued a national challenge to all Americans to take action and find ways to support and engage our military families in their own communities. Jill is asking folks she meets to go to serve.gov and share their stories about how they’re supporting those who serve us every day.

In 1993, after four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, Jill started the Biden Breast Health Initiative in Delaware, which in the past 17 years has educated more than 10,000 ninth-through-twelfth-grade girls about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. For the past two years, Jill and the Vice President have served as the Honorary Co-Chairs for the Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.

Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Jill taught English at a community college in Delaware, at a public high school and at a psychiatric hospital for adolescents. Jill earned her Doctorate in Education from the University of Delaware in January of 2007. Her dissertation focused on maximizing student retention in community colleges. She also has a two Master's Degrees — both of which she earned while working and raising a family.

Jill and Joe have three children: Ashley, a social worker; Beau, the Attorney General of the State of Delaware and a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard; and Hunter, a lawyer. They have two daughters-in law, Kathleen and Hallie, and are also the proud grandparents of five grandchildren: Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, and Hunter. The oldest of five sisters, Jill Jacobs was raised in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, by Bonny and Donald Jacobs, both of whom are now deceased.