First Lady
Michelle Obama will have 25 special guests joining her in the House chamber Tuesday evening for
the President’s State of the Union address at the Capitol. In the official realm they
include the Vice President’s wife,
Jill Biden, and senior White House adviser
Valerie Jarrett, but the remainder of the guests span a diverse range of professions, experiences,
ages, and personal stories. The list includes two people from Arlington, Virginia,
and one from Crownsville, Maryland. Together the group will sit in a special box assigned
to the First Lady.
From the White House, here’s the list of who will be sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama
during Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address.
• The Vice President’s wife, Jill Biden
• Presidential senior adviser Valerie Jarrett
• Sergeant Sheena Adams of Vista, California, a team adviser and lead instructor for
the Marine Corps Female Engagement Team
• Alan Aleman of Las Vegas, Nevada, a beneficiary of the Obama administration’s DREAM
program
• Jack Andraka of Crownsville, Maryland, winner of the 2012 Intel International Science
and Engineering Fair for his creation of an early detection for pancreatic cancer
• Susan Baumgarner of Norman, Oklahoma, an early childhood educator
• Deb Carey of New Glarus, Wisconsin, a small business owner who founded the New Glarus
Brewing company
• Sergeant Carlos Evans, USMC, of Cameron, North Carolina, a wounded warrior who is
recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center from injuries received in Afghanistan during
his fourth overseas deployment
• Tim Cook, of Cupertino, California, the CEO of Apple
• Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel A. Pendleton Sr., of Chicago, Illinois—the
parents of Hadiya Pendleton, who was murdered in Chicago on January 29, eight days
after she participated in the inaugural parade
• Menchu de Luna Sanchez of Secaucus, New Jersey—a registered nurse with the Langone
Medical Center of New York University
• Bobak Ferdowsi of Pasadena, California—flight director for the Mars Curiosity rover
team at NASA
• Bradley Henning of Louisville, Kentucky—a machinist with the Atlas Machine and Supply
company
• Tracey Hepner of Arlington, Virginia—cofounder of Military Partners and Families
Coalition
• Peter Hudson of Evergreen, Colorado—cofounder and CEO of iTriage, a “company focused
on prompting citizens to actively engage in their own healthcare”
• John Kitzhaber, the governor of Oregon
• Lopez Rogers, the mayor of Avondale, Arizona, who was named in 2012 as the president
of the National League of Cities
• Amanda E. McMillan of Jackson, Mississippi—a pay discrimination victim
• Lee Maxwell of Wilton, Iowa, who is a graduate of the Wind Technician Program at
Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids
• Lieutenant Brian Murphy of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, who was the first police officer
to arrive at the scene of the tragic Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin,
last August
• Lisa Richards of Arlington, Virginia, a #My2K Participant, in which she shared her
story about what paying $2,200 more in taxes would mean for her family
• Kaitlin Roig of Greenwich, Connecticut, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary
School
• Abby Schanfield of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a beneficiary of the Affordable Care
Act
• Haile Thomas of Tucson, Arizona, who is a 12 year-old Youth Advisory Board member
with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and a Let’s Move champion
• Desiline Victor of Miami, Florida, a 102-year-old retired farmworker and naturalized
US citizen from Haiti who asserted her right to vote.
