Valerie Jarrett, University of Chicago Trustee, named a Co-Chair of the Obama-Biden Transition Project

November 6, 2008

Valerie Jarrett, Vice-Chair of the University of Chicago's Board of Trustees and Chair of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board, has been named one of three co-chairs of the transition team for President-elect Barack Obama.

Jarrett, a lifelong resident of Chicago's South Side whose ties to the University of Chicago stretch back decades, has been a member of the University's Board of Trustees since 2001 and Vice-Chair of the University Medical Center's Board since 2002.

Jarrett attended the University's Laboratory Schools, where her mother, Barbara Bowman (A.M. '52), taught for many years. Jarrett's father, James Bowman, is Professor Emeritus in Pathology and Medicine and the College. He is the namesake for the University's Bowman Society Lecture Series, which spotlights minority health care issues and supports diversity at the University.

Jarrett received a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1978 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.

A longtime advisor to Obama, Jarrett got her start in politics in 1987 while working for former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. She later served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Richard Daley in the 1990s.

In addition to her positions at the University of Chicago, Jarrett is a Trustee at the Museum of Science and Industry, serves on the Board of Directors of USG Corporation and is CEO for The Habitat Company.