Happy Birthday wishes go out to First Lady to be, Michelle Obama, who turns 45 years old today. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born and raised in Chicago, IL. She graduated from Whitney Young High School where she was on the honor roll all four years, a member of the National Honors Society, and served as the student council treasurer. She graduated in 1981 as the class salutatorian.

Michelle Obama attended Princeton University where she got her BA degree in sociology and African American Studies in 1985. She got her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988.


After law school, Michelle was an associate at the Chicago office of the law firm Sidley Austin where she worked on marketing and intellectual property. Subsequently, she held positions in the Chicago city government as an Assistant to the mayor, and as Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development.

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. She worked there nearly four years and set fundraising records for the organization that still stood a dozen years after she left.

In 1996, Obama served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, where she developed the University's Community Service Center. 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.

She continued to hold the University of Chicago Hospitals position during the primary campaign, but cut back to part time in order to spend time with her daughters as well as work for her husband's election; she subsequently took a leave of absence from her job.

Michelle Obama met Barack while working at the same law firm in Chicago. They married in October of 1992. They have two daughters, Malia and Natasha. They will be taking up residence in the White House next Tuesday.