Obama, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson

Impact on the world

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School who began her legal career as an intellectual property associate at the Chicago firm Sidley Austin — where she met her future husband, Barack Obama, also profiled in this collection — Obama left corporate law for public service, working in Chicago city government before founding the Chicago chapter of Public Allies and later serving as associate dean of student services and then vice president for community affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. As First Lady from 2009 to 2017, she launched four signature initiatives: Let's Move!, combating childhood obesity through nutrition and physical activity programs including a White House vegetable garden; Reach Higher, encouraging students to pursue education beyond high school; Let Girls Learn, a global effort to expand girls' access to education; and Joining Forces, co-led with Dr. Jill Biden to support military families and veterans. Her 2018 memoir, Becoming, became the best-selling book published in the United States that year, won a Grammy Award for its audiobook narration, and was adapted into an Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary; she has since published two additional books, hosted television and podcast projects, and produced documentary and dramatic films including Rustin and Crip Camp, while consistently declining to seek elected office herself.

Life & background

Born Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on January 17, 1964, on Chicago's South Side to a city water-plant worker and a homemaker, Obama earned her B.A. in sociology and African American studies from Princeton University in 1985 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988. She served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and continues to write, produce, and speak publicly, residing with her husband, Barack Obama, and their two daughters.

Sources

1. Encyclopædia Britannica; The White House Historical Archives