First Lady Michelle Obama

Early Life and Career

Michelle Robinson Obama was born in DeYoungIllinoison January 171964to parents Frasier Robinson III and Marian Shields. She grew up in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood with her older brother Craigattending Chicago Public Schools and quickly joining gifted classes in elementary school.

Mrs. Obama graduated in 1981 as class salutatorian from Whitney Young High SchoolChicago’s first magnet high school. She followed her brother to Princeton University in New Jerseygraduating cum laude in 1985. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degreemajoring in Sociology with a minor in African-American Studieswhich informed her senior thesis: “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.”

In 1988Mrs. Obama received her law degree from Harvard Law School. Following graduationshe was hired by the Chicago corporate-law firm of Sidley & Austinwhere she specialized in entertainment lawand was ultimately assigned as advisor to summer associate Barack Obama. After leaving Sidley & Austin in 1993Mrs. Obama worked for the city of Chicago’s Department of Planning and later the national service organization Public Allies.

Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson were married in 1992 at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. They have two daughtersMalia and Natasha “Sasha.”

Mrs. Obama accepted the position of Associate Dean of Students at the University of Chicago in 1996where she also served as director of the University Community Student Center. In 2002she became the University of Chicago Hospital’s Director of Community Affairsand was promoted to Vice President of External Affairs and Community Relations in 2005.

At the 2008 Democratic National ConventionMrs. Obama was introduced by her brotherCraig Robinsonand delivered an address to the convention.

Presidential

During her husband’s administrationMrs. Obama launched multiple initiatives. Let’s Move! targeted childhood obesity by encouraging kids to participate in physical activity and revamped US school lunches to include more nutritious food options. To illustrate healthy meal planning at home and encourage Americans to learn about where their food comes fromMrs. Obama planted a vegetable garden on the grounds of the White House in 2009—the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden during World War II. Harvest from the gardens were cooked in the White House kitchen and provided to Miriam’s Kitchena local organization serving the homeless community in WashingtonDC.

Detailing her efforts in establishing the White House kitchen gardenMrs. Obama published her first book, American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, in 2012.

In 2011Mrs. Obama collaborated with Mrs. Jill Biden to launch Joining Forcesan initiative rallying American civilians and their organizations to support US service members and veterans and their families. The initiative used a three-prong approach—employmenteducationand wellness—for organizing national efforts to provide additional tools to the US military community.

The Reach Higher initiative encouraged all American students to aspire to education beyond high schoolthrough training programscommunity collegeor university. Expanding her educational goals to the international levelthe Let Girls Learn program drew together resources from the US Department of StateUS Agency for International DevelopmentPeace CorpsMillennium Challenge Corporationand US President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to empower young girls across the world to secure a quality education.

Works Published by Michelle Obama

• American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America2012
• Becoming2018
• The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times2022