Valerie Jarrett From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Valerie Jarrett
Senior Advisor to the President
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2009
Serving with David Plouffe
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Barry Jackson
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Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2009
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Julie Cram
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Born November 14, 1956 (1956-11-14) (age 54)
Shiraz, Iran
Political party Democratic Party
Spouse(s) William Jarrett (1983–1988)
Children Laura
Alma mater Stanford University
University of Michigan
Profession Lawyer
Valerie Bowman Jarrett (born November 14, 1956) is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is also a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader. Prior to that she served as a co-chairperson of the Obama-Biden Transition Project.[1][2]
Contents [hide]
1 Personal
2 Career
2.1 Chicago politics
2.2 Business administration
2.3 Advisor to Barack Obama
2.4 Relationship with President Obama
3 References
4 External links
[edit] PersonalJarrett was born in Shiraz, Iran to American parents James E. Bowman and Barbara Taylor Bowman. Her father, a pathologist and geneticist, ran a hospital for children in Shiraz, as part of a program where American doctors and agricultural experts sought to help jump-start developing countries' health and farming efforts. When she was five, the family moved to London for one year, returning to Chicago in 1963.[citation needed]
In 1966 her mother, Barbara T. Bowman, was one of four child advocates that created the Erikson Institute. The Institute was established to provide advanced knowledge in child development for teachers and other professionals working with young children.[citation needed]
As a child she spoke Persian and French.[3]
Jarrett graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon in 1974. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.[citation needed]
In 1983 Jarrett married Dr. William Robert Jarrett, son of famed Chicago Sun-Times reporter Vernon Jarrett. She attributes her switch from a private to a public career to their daughter Laura's birth and her own desire to do something that would make the daughter proud.[4]
To one reporter's e-mailed question about her divorce, she replied, "Married in 1983, separated in 1987, and divorced in 1988. Enough said."[4] In a Vogue profile, she further explained "We grew up together. We were friends since childhood. In a sense, he was the boy next door. I married without really appreciating how hard divorce would be."[4] William Jarrett died of a sudden heart attack in 1993.[4]
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