Who Is Valerie Bowman Jarrett?

Valerie Bowman Jarrett (born November 14, 1956) is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader. She is best known for her role as an advisor to President-Elect Barack Obama. Jarrett has been appointed a senior advisor in the incoming Obama administration. She is currently serving as a co-chairperson of the Obama-Biden Transition Project.

Early years

Jarrett was born in Shiraz, Iran, where her father, Dr. James Bowman, ran a hospital for children as part of a program that sent American doctors and agricultural experts to developing countries to help jump-start their health and farming efforts. At age 5, the family moved to London for one year, then returned to Chicago in 1963. Her father, who is of African American descent, is a pathologist and geneticist. He is currently Professor Emeritus in Pathology and Medicine, University of Chicago.[ Her great-grandfather was the first African-American to graduate from M.I.T., her grandfather was Robert Taylor, the first black man to head the Chicago Housing Authority, and her father, Dr. James Bowman, was the first black resident at St. Luke’s Hospital. Her mother, Barbara T. Bowman, is an African-American early childhood education expert and co-founder of the Erikson Institute for child development.

She graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon, a New England boarding school, 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.


Career

Chicago politics
Jarrett got her start in Chicago politics in 1987 working for Mayor Harold Washington as Deputy Corporation Counsel for Finance and Development.Jarrett continued to work in the mayor's office in the 1990s. She was Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard Daley, during which time (1991) she hired Michelle Robinson, then engaged to Barack Obama, away from a private law firm. Jarrett served as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development from 1992 through 1995, and was Chair of the Chicago Transit Board from 1995 to 2005.


Business career
She is currently the CEO of The Habitat Company, a real estate development and management company, which she joined in 1995. She was a member of the board of Chicago Stock Exchange (2000-2007, as Chairman, 2004-2007).

She is also the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago Medical Center, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and a Trustee of Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.Ms . Jarrett serves on the board of directors of USG Corporation, a Chicago based building materials corporation.


Advisor to Barack Obama
Jarrett is one of Senator Obama's longest serving advisors and "closest campaign aide[s] – an insider widely tapped for a top position in an Obama administration."

“ Unlike Bert Lance, who arrived from Georgia with President Jimmy Carter and became his budget director, or Karen Hughes, who was President George W. Bush's communications manager, Ms. Jarrett isn't a confidante with a particular portfolio. What she does share with these counterparts is a fierce sense of loyalty and a refusal to publicly say anything that may reflect poorly on the candidate — or steal his thunder. ”


President-elect Barack Obama on November 14, 2008 selected Jarrett as White House Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. Jarrett will manage the White House Office of Public Liaison and work with state and local governments.


Personal life
Jarrett was married to William Robert Jarrett from 1983 to 1988. Their daughter, Laura, is a Harvard Law student.