Michelle Obama

**Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama** (born January 17, 1964) is an American lawyer and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 as the wife of Barack Obama, the 44th U.S. president. She is the first African-American first lady in U.S. history. As first lady, she was seen as a role model for women as she worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She supported American designers and was considered a fashion icon.

### Early life and education

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on January 17, 1964, at Provident Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, Illinois, to Fraser Robinson III, a city water plant employee and Marian Shields Robinson. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Robinson entered high school.

By sixth grade, Robinson attended Mawr Elementary School. She attended Whitney Young High School, where she was on the honor roll for four years, took advanced placement classes, was a member of the National Honor Society and served as student council treasurer. She graduated in 1981.

### Career

Robinson enrolled into Princeton University in 1981. She majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985.

While at Princeton, Robinson became involved with the Third World Center, an academic and cultural group who supported minority students. She ran their daycare center, which also offered after school tutoring for older children.

As part of her requirements for graduation, she wrote a sociology thesis, titled _Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community_.

Robinson pursued professional study, earning her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. At Harvard, Robinson participated in demonstrations advocating the hiring of professors who were members of minority groups. She worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, assisting low-income tenants with housing cases.

### Post-law school career

Following law school, Obama became an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley & Austin, where she worked on marketing and property law.

In 1993, she became executive director for the Chicago office of Public Allies, a non-profit organization encouraging young people to work on social issues in nonprofit groups and government agencies.

In 1996, Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. In 2002, she began working for the University of Chicago Hospitals, first as executive director for community affairs and, beginning May 2005, as vice president for Community and External Affairs.

### Marriage and family

Robinson met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin LLP. Their relationship started with a business lunch and then a community organization meeting. They got married on October 3, 1992. Their first daughter, Malia Ann was born in July 1998 and their second daughter, Sasha was born June 2001.

## First lady of the United States (2009–2017)

Obama became the first lady of the United States when her husband was sworn-in as the 44th U.S. president on January 20, 2009, and became the first African-American first lady in American history. As first lady, Obama visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens. She also sent representatives to schools and advocated public service.

Obama's initiatives as first lady were: Let's Move!, Reach Higher, Let Girls Learn, and Joining Forces. Some initiatives included advocating for military families. She made supporting military families and spouses a personal mission and increasingly bonded with military families. In January 2010, Obama started an initiative, which she named "Let's Move!", to make progress in reversing the 21st-century trend of childhood obesity. On February 9, 2010, President Obama created the Task Force on Childhood Obesity to review all current programs and create a national plan for change.

### Fashion influence

In 2010, she wore clothes, many high end, from more than fifty designer companies. She wore sleeveless dresses by Michael Kors, and her ball gowns designed by Jason Wu for both inaugurals. She has also been known for wearing clothes by African designers such as Mimi Plange, Duro Olowu, Maki Oh, and Osei Duro. Obama appeared on the cover in the March 2009 issue of _Vogue_. She later appeared two more times on the cover of _Vogue_, while first lady, the last time in December 2016, with photographs by Annie Leibovitz. In August 2011, she became the first woman ever to appear on the cover of _Better Homes and Gardens_ magazine.

## Post-White House activities (2017–present)

In 2021, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

### _Becoming_

Obama's memoir, _Becoming_, was released in November 2018. By November 2019, it had sold 11.5 million copies. A documentary titled _Becoming_, which chronicles Obama's book tour promoting the memoir, was released on Netflix on May 6, 2020. She received Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording in 2020 for audio book.

### Podcast

In July 2020, she premiered a podcast titled _The Michelle Obama Podcast_. In February 2021, Obama was announced as an executive producer and presenter on a children's cooking show, _Waffles + Mochi._ It was released by Netflix on March 16, 2021.

### _The Light We Carry_

On July 21, 2022, it was announced that Obama's next book, _The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times_, would be published in November 2022. The book was published by Penguin Random House. In 2023, Obama received a Emmy Award for the Netflix documentary film _The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey_.

## Awards and honors

In November 2023, Obama was named to the BBC's 100 Women list.

## Writings

_Time_ magazine features an annual "Person of the Year" cover story in which _Time_ recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest impact on news headlines over the previous twelve months. In 2020, the magazine decided to retroactively choose a historically deserving woman for each year in which a man had been named Person of the Year, reflecting the fact that a woman or women had been named Person of the Year only eleven times in the preceding hundred. As part of this review, Michelle Obama was named the Woman of the Year for 2008.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **image**: Michelle Obama 2013 official portrait.jpg
- **caption**: Official portrait, 2013
- **alt**: Official portrait of Michelle Obama in the Green Room of the White House
- **president**: Barack Obama
- **term label**: In role
- **term start**: January 20, 2009
- **term end**: January 20, 2017
- **predecessor**: Laura Bush
- **successor**: Melania Trump
- **birth name**: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson
- **birth place**: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
- **signature**: Michelle Obama signature.svg
- **title**: First Lady of the United States