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Editor's Note: For those unable to attend Winter Commencement, the ceremony will be Webcast live on the UD Live! Web page.
11:23 a.m., Dec. 1, 2009----Educator and UD alumna Jill Biden, wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, will deliver the address at the University of Delaware's Winter Commencement ceremonies, scheduled at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 9, in the Bob Carpenter Sports Convocation Center, Pete Hayward, vice president and University secretary, has announced.
Winter Commencement, for students who complete their degree requirements in August and December, traditionally features a distinguished UD graduate as speaker.
“Jill Biden is a most fitting choice to deliver the address since she herself was awarded her doctoral degree three years ago at Winter Commencement,” Hayward said. “A loyal and dedicated Blue Hen who earned her undergraduate degree at UD as well, Dr. Biden has conscientiously demonstrated her commitment to education and community activism throughout her career.”
Because of limited seating, admission to Winter Commencement is by ticket only. Each degree candidate is entitled to a maximum of eight guest tickets, which will be distributed from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, Nov. 30, through Friday, Dec. 4, at the Student Services Building on Lovett Avenue in Newark. The ceremony also will be Webcast live.
Biden earned her doctorate in education at the University of Delaware, and it was awarded at the Winter Commencement ceremony in 2007. Her dissertation focused on maximizing student retention in community colleges.
An educator for the past 29 years, she continues to teach English classes at a D.C.-area community college. She has a long history of activism in her community and continues to work to raise awareness on education, military families and women's health issues.
Given her professional experience and passion, President Barack Obama has asked Biden to help highlight the importance of America's community colleges, and she frequently visits community colleges and speaks with students, parents, and teachers around the country as part of this outreach.
As a Blue Star Mom, she has made military families one of her top priorities. She has traveled to many bases in both the United States and in Germany to speak with soldiers and their families and try to raise awareness and show appreciation for the special sacrifices that these Americans make.
In Delaware, she was active with a nonprofit organization called Delaware Boots on the Ground, which is dedicated to helping families during times of military deployment by organizing community events to raise awareness and support.
An advocate of literacy and reading programs, she also helped found Book Buddies in 2007, a program that encourages reading among children from low-income families.
In 1993, after four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, she started the Biden Breast Health Initiative, which in the past 16 years has educated more than 10,000 ninth- through 12th-grade girls in Delaware about the importance of early detection of breast cancer.
Before moving to Washington, Biden taught English for 15 years at Delaware Technical & Community College. Before that, she taught for 13 years in public schools as a reading specialist and English teacher, as well as working part-time with the Rockford Psychiatric Hospital Adolescent Program.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in English from UD, she earned a master's degree in English from Villanova University and a master's degree in reading from West Chester University -- both while working full-time and raising a family.
Biden was married to then-Sen. Joe Biden in June of 1977. The Bidens have three children: Ashley, a social worker; Beau, attorney general of the state of Delaware and a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard; and Hunter, a lawyer. They have five grandchildren.
Additional details about Winter Commencement will be mailed directly to degree candidates and their families.
For more information on Winter Commencement activities, visit the special Winter Commencement Web page, send e-mail to [commencement@udel.edu] or call (302) 831-2113 or TDD (302) 831-4563.
The ceremony will conclude with a reception on the concourse of the Bob Carpenter Center. Light refreshments will be served.