The first female Senator of Massachusetts is also a renowned law professor and consumer advocate for middle-class families.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren acknowledges the crowd as she walks on stage to deliver remarks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia. (JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES)
1. Elizabeth Warren was born Elizabeth Herring in Oklahoma City on June 22, 1949, the last of four children and the only daughter of Donald and Pauline Herring. Her father worked at various jobs, including as a maintenance man at an apartment building.
2. Warren graduated high school at age 16, a state debate champion with a full scholarship to George Washington University. She later transferred to the University of Houston.
3. At 19, she married NASA mathematician Jim Warren. They have a daughter and a son. The couple later divorced, and Warren married Harvard University law professor Bruce Mann in 1980.
4. In 1970, she graduated from the University of Houston, earning a bachelor of science degree in speech pathology and audiology.
5. Warren earned a J.D. from Rutgers University in 1976.
6. While in New Jersey, Warren opened a small private law practice and lectured at Rutgers. She was a law professor for more than 30 years, teaching at the University of Texas, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University law schools.
7. In the mid-1990s, Warren was the chief adviser to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission and also appointed as the first academic member of the Federal Judicial Education Committee.
8. Warren has written many scholarly articles, focusing on bankruptcy and law, and several books, including two co-authored with her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi: “The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke” and “All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan.”
9. Appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2008, Warren served as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, which monitored the $700 billion bank bailout effort, formally known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, until she stepped down in 2010 to help create the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
10. In November 2012, Warren beat incumbent Sen. Scott Brown for the seat once held by Sen. Ted Kennedy, making her the first female Senator from Massachusetts.
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Updated on March 3, 2017: This article has been updated to include new information.
