BIOGRAPHY

Laura Welch Bush, the only child of Harold and Jenna Welch, was born and reared in Midland, Texas. Laura Bush developed a love of reading and learning during her primary and secondary school years. She attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1968.

After college, she worked as a teacher at Longfellow Elementary School in the Dallas Independent School District until 1969 and then moved to Houston, Texas, where she taught at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District until 1972.

Laura Bush enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin and earned a Master of Library Science degree in 1973. Afterward, she worked at the Houston Public Library, Kashmere Gardens Branch until she moved back to Austin in 1974.

She worked as a librarian at Dawson Elementary School until 1977, when she met George Walker Bush at the home of mutual friends. They married in November 1977 and made their home in Midland.

In 1981, George and Laura Bush became the proud parents of twin girls, who are named Barbara and Jenna after their grandmothers.

Mrs. Bush spent years volunteering for a number of causes. She served as a member of the Friends of the Midland Public Library and as an executive board member of the Junior League of Midland, Inc., until 1987.

In 1987, the family moved to Washington, D.C., where then-Mr. Bush worked for his father, President George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States of America.

The family moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1988, and Mrs. Bush served as a member of the Friends of Dallas Public Library Board and Executive Committee and a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) volunteer and library liaison at Preston Hollow Elementary School, where her children attended school. She also served as a member of the Community Partners Board of Child Protective Services (or CPS, a division of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, which advocates for children).

In November 1994, George Walker Bush was elected Governor of Texas and the family relocated to Austin, the state capital city. As First Lady of Texas, Mrs. Bush continued to advocate the same causes: reading, libraries, and education.

Mrs. Bush helped organize the Texas Book Festival in 1996, an endeavor that has become an annual fundraiser for Texas public libraries. She launched an early childhood development initiative in 1998 to help parents and caregivers prepare infants and young children for learning and reading when they enter school. The Texas initiative included a family literacy project, which was a collaborative effort with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

The First Lady's concern over women's health issues led her to highlight the importance of breast cancer awareness. In Texas, she worked with the Governor's Spouse Program of the National Governors Association to promote women's health issues. She worked to establish Adopt-A-Caseworker programs and Rainbow Rooms throughout Texas. Rainbow Rooms provide abused and neglected children with basic necessities such as clothing and diapers.

In January 2001, George Walker Bush was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. As the nation's First Lady, Laura Bush is keenly aware of the opportunity she has to share her love of reading with Americans, especially young children. She is using her new role to promote a Ready to Read, Ready to Learn initiative, which complements President Bush's national education goals.

Components of her Ready to Read, Ready to Learn initiative include encouraging Americans to pursue the honorable career of teaching; highlighting early childhood development initiatives that help prepare children for learning and school; and making sure that parents and caregivers have important information on child rearing and cognitive development. Mrs. Bush is in the midst of planning the nation's first-ever National Book Festival, which will take place in the Nation's Capital in September 2001.

The First Lady is the also the spokesperson for the Department of Defense program, Troops To Teachers, which recruits talented, retired military personnel, whose experience and strength of character can make a real difference in the classroom. Many of these military professionals have science, math, and engineering degrees -- disciplines desperately needed in our schools. Troops to Teachers candidates are men and women who have served their country and want to do more for the next generation. They're ready to teach and Troops to Teachers gives them the opportunity.