Christina Tchen
Encyclopedia
Christina M. "Tina" Tchen ' onMouseout='HidePop("94173")' href="/topics/Pinyin">pinyin
: Chén Yuǎnměi) (born January 25, 1956) is an American
lawyer
. She serves as Assistant to President
Barack Obama
; Chief of Staff to First Lady
Michelle Obama
; and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls
. From the date of Obama's inauguration until January 5, 2011, she was the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
, previously known as the Office of Public Liaison.
She graduated from Harvard University
's Radcliffe College
in 1978, and received her law degree in 1984 from Northwestern University
School of Law.
Department of Children and Family Services as a budget analyst. She then went to law school, and after graduation went to work as an associate attorney for the Chicago office of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
.
Tchen worked at Skadden for 25 years where she specialized in litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts
. She represented companies, officers and directors in shareholder class
and derivative actions
. She also handled a wide range of commercial
, intellectual property
, and employment
-related litigation, and represented public agencies
in state and federal class actions, including the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services, the Illinois
Department of Public Aid and the Chicago Housing Authority
. She was a partner at Skadden for 13 years before her appointment to the Obama administration.
, legal and social policy
: the Chicago Bar Association
Foundation; the Field Foundation of Illinois (chair of the board); the Chicago Public Library
(trustee
); and the Chinese American Service League
(board member).
Tchen has served on the Judicial Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois
and has served in several leadership positions with the American Bar Association
Litigation Section.
of Illinois (1999); "Women of Achievement" award from the Anti-Defamation League
(1996); and Chicago Lawyer (Magazine) "Person of the Year" (1994). She was selected for inclusion in Chambers USA guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2008) and The Best Lawyers in America (2009). She also was selected in 2007 as one of the top three women business lawyers in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network.
's run for the U.S. presidency, and was an effective fundraiser
for his campaign.
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Chén Yuǎnměi) (born January 25, 1956) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. She serves as Assistant to President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
; Chief of Staff to First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
; and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls
White House Council on Women and Girls
The White House Council on Women and Girls is a council, which forms part of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs established by on March 11, 2009 with a broad mandate to advise the President on issues relating to the welfare of women...
. From the date of Obama's inauguration until January 5, 2011, she was the Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs
The Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States...
, previously known as the Office of Public Liaison.
Early life and education
Tchen was born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrants who fled Communist China in 1949. She grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, where her father worked as a psychiatrist and her mother as a scientist.She graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1978, and received her law degree in 1984 from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
School of Law.
Career experience
After graduation from Radcliffe, Tchen worked for several years for the IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Department of Children and Family Services as a budget analyst. She then went to law school, and after graduation went to work as an associate attorney for the Chicago office of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates , founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine calls Skadden "Wall Street's most powerful law firm"...
.
Tchen worked at Skadden for 25 years where she specialized in litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
. She represented companies, officers and directors in shareholder class
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
and derivative actions
Derivative suit
A shareholder derivative suit is a lawsuit brought by a shareholder on behalf of a corporation against a third party. Often, the third party is an insider of the corporation, such as an executive officer or director. Shareholder derivative suits are unique because under traditional corporate law,...
. She also handled a wide range of commercial
Commercial law
Commercial law is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions...
, intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, and employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
-related litigation, and represented public agencies
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
in state and federal class actions, including the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Department of Children and Family Services, the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Department of Public Aid and the Chicago Housing Authority
Chicago Housing Authority
The Chicago Housing Authority is a municipal corporation established by the State of Illinois in 1937 with jurisdiction for the administrative oversight of public housing within the City of Chicago...
. She was a partner at Skadden for 13 years before her appointment to the Obama administration.
Community and professional service
Tchen has served on several boards for organizations involved in publicPublic policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
, legal and social policy
Social policy
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
: the Chicago Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Founded in 1874, the Chicago Bar Association is a voluntary bar association with over 20,000 members. Like other bar associations, it concerns itself with professional ethics, networking among members, and continuing legal education. It is located adjacent to the John Marshall Law School in the...
Foundation; the Field Foundation of Illinois (chair of the board); the Chicago Public Library
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 79 branches, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the city....
(trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
); and the Chinese American Service League
Chinese American Service League
The Chinese American Service League ' is non-profit agency which is based in Chicago, Illinois and which provides social services such as English language classes, job training and child care for newly arrived Chinese American immigrants. It has a budget of $9.3 million and helps more than 18,000...
(board member).
Tchen has served on the Judicial Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois....
and has served in several leadership positions with the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
Litigation Section.
Awards
Tchen is the recipient of a number of awards recognizing her contributions in the legal field: Leadership Award from the Women's Bar AssociationBar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
of Illinois (1999); "Women of Achievement" award from the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
(1996); and Chicago Lawyer (Magazine) "Person of the Year" (1994). She was selected for inclusion in Chambers USA guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2008) and The Best Lawyers in America (2009). She also was selected in 2007 as one of the top three women business lawyers in Illinois by the Leading Lawyers Network.
Political donations
Tchen made 13 donations totaling $7,850 to various Democratic political campaigns in 2008. She was also an early supporter of Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's run for the U.S. presidency, and was an effective fundraiser
Fundraiser
A fundraiser is an event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause. See also: fundraising. A fundraiser can also be an individual or company whose primary job is to raise money for a specific charity or non-profit organization...
for his campaign.
External links
- Profile at White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental AffairsWhite House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental AffairsThe Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States...
at WhiteHouse.govWhitehouse.govWhitehouse.gov is the official website of the White House and is owned by the United States government. Launched in October 1994, it contains general American history information, as well as current news pertaining to the President, press briefings, proclamations, executive orders, and any speeches... - Council on Women and Girls at WhiteHouse.govWhitehouse.govWhitehouse.gov is the official website of the White House and is owned by the United States government. Launched in October 1994, it contains general American history information, as well as current news pertaining to the President, press briefings, proclamations, executive orders, and any speeches...
- Joining the Office of the First Lady, Tina Tchen, WhiteHouse.govWhitehouse.govWhitehouse.gov is the official website of the White House and is owned by the United States government. Launched in October 1994, it contains general American history information, as well as current news pertaining to the President, press briefings, proclamations, executive orders, and any speeches...
, January 5, 2011