Dr. Jill Tracy Biden (née Jacobs) was raised in Willow Grove, PA. Jill is the oldest of five sisters, and the daughter of Bonny, a stay-at-home mom, and Donald, a banker. Both her parents are deceased.
Jill and Joe met when she was a student at the University of Delaware, an introduction arranged by Joe's brother. When Joe called to ask her out, Jill made sure to mention she was not impressed with his title and that he should feel lucky that she had voted for him. At the time, Joe had two sons, Beau and Hunter.
The couple dated for two years, and, on June 17, 1977, they were married at the United Nations chapel in New York City. Jill has said that when she married Joe, she knew she was marrying the whole family, including his two sons. Beau and Hunter joined the couple on their honeymoon.
In 1981, Joe and Jill had a daughter, Ashley. All of the children are now grown and five grandchildren—Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, and Hunter Biden—have been added to the family. Beau is the Attorney General of the State of Delaware and a captain in the Delaware National Guard. Hunter is a lawyer; and Ashley is employed as a social worker.
Jill is in her 15th year at a Community College in Delaware, where she teaches English composition. She also spent 13 years in the public schools, where she was a Reading specialist and English teacher as well as a part-time teacher with Rockford Psychiatric Hospital Adolescent Program.
While working full-time and raising a family, Jill earned two masters degrees: a Master's degree in English from Villanova University (1987) and a Master's degree in reading from West Chester University (1981). And this past January, Jill earned a Doctorate in Education from the University of Delaware in 2007. Her dissertation focused on how to retain students in community colleges.
Jill has always been active and engaged in issues that matter to her most, including healthcare. Jill had four friends with breast cancer, one of whom died, and she thought as an educator, there had to be something that she could do. In 1993, Jill started the Biden Breast Health Initiative that has educated more than 7,000 ninth-through twelfth grade girls in Delaware about proper breast health.
Jill also is involved with Delaware Boots on the Ground, an organization that helps military families whose needs existing programs are not meeting or those who have fallen through the cracks. And this summer, Jill also started a program called Book Buddies to get kids reading at an early age. The program helps low-income children and raises money to buy books.
Jill makes sure to keep active, running 5 miles 5 days a week. She also ran in the Marine Corps Marathon.
