Biden, Jill (1951-…), an American educator, is the wife of United States President Joe Biden. Jill Biden became first lady of the United States upon her husband’s inauguration in 2021. She served as second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, when her husband served as vice president under Barack Obama. Jill Biden has worked as an advocate for community colleges, military families, and education for all—particularly women and girls.
Jill Tracy Jacobs was born on June 3, 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of Trenton, the state capital. She grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. In 1969, she graduated from Upper Moreland High School. One year later, she married the businessman Bill Stevenson. The couple divorced in 1975. That same year, she graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 1976, she began teaching English at St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Five years later, in 1981, she earned a master’s degree in education from West Chester University.
In 1977, Jill married Joe Biden at the United Nations Chapel in New York City. She became a stepmother to Biden’s sons, Joseph III (called Beau, 1969-2015) and Robert (called Hunter, 1970-…). In 1981, Jill and Joe Biden had a daughter, Ashley. While Jill Biden pursued her second master’s degree, she taught English at Rockford Center, a psychiatric facility in Newark, New Jersey. In 1991, Biden graduated from Villanova University with a Master of Arts degree in English. Beginning in 1993, she taught for 15 years at Delaware Technical Community College. In 2007, she received a Doctor of Education degree in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Since 2009, she has taught writing at Northern Virginia Community College.
Biden has written several books. Her children’s book Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops (2012) was inspired by a granddaughter’s experience when her father, Beau, was deployed to Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard. Biden has written a memoir, Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself (2019). Another children’s book, Joey: The Story of Joe Biden, was published in 2020.
