Jill Biden Biography

Dr. Jill Biden is an educator and the wife of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Jill Jacobs was still a student at the University of Delaware when she met Joe Biden in 1975; they were married two years later and had a daughter together, Ashley, in 1981. A multitasking mom, Jill Biden raised Ashley along with Biden’s two sons from his first marriage while also going to graduate school and teaching high school. (The Bidens lived in Delaware, with Joe Biden commuting by train daily from Washington, D.C.)

Jill Biden has four degrees in all: a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware (1975), master’s degrees from West Chester University (1981) and Villanova University (1987), and a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware (2007).

In 1993 she began teaching English at Delaware Technical and Community College, where she was still teaching in 2008 when Joe Biden was elected vice president as the running mate of Democratic presidential Barack Obama.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden took office on January 20, 2009. While serving as ‘Second Lady,’ Jill Biden continued teaching in the Washington, D.C. area, even after her husband was re-elected for another four-year term as vice president on November 6, 2012.

After Joe Biden’s term ended, Dr. Biden focused on their non-profit foundation and public speaking in educational settings. In 2020, Joe Biden became the Democratic candidate for president. He and running mate Kamala Harris defeated Repubican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Dr. Jill Biden became First Lady when Joe Biden took office as president on January 20, 2021.