Hi, I'm Jill. Jill Biden. But please, call me Dr. Biden

By Robin Abcarian
February 2, 2009 Vice President Joe Biden often joked on the campaign trail about his wife's lofty educational achievements. She had two master's degrees and had already worked for nearly a quarter-century as a college community instructor. But he had a better idea.

"Why don't you go out and get a doctorate and make us some real money?" he said he told her. (That was always good for a laugh, especially in university towns.)

In 2007, at 55, Jill Biden did earn a doctorate -- in education, from the University of Delaware. Since then, in campaign news releases and now in White House announcements, she is "Dr. Jill Biden." This strikes some people as perfectly appropriate and others as slightly pompous, a quality often ascribed to her voluble husband.

Last week, the White House announced that Jill Biden had returned to the classroom -- thought by some who study the presidency and vice presidency to be a historical first. She is teaching two courses at Northern Virginia Community College, the second-largest community college in the U.S. She began her new job before last month's inauguration; the announcement was delayed out of respect for that event.