Elizabeth Warren is a Democrat from Massachusetts who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. She had previously served as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among other roles. Her focus on consumer advocacy and financial regulation gained her national recognition well before her Senate run.

Political Career and Bankruptcy Research

In 1978, following her divorce, Warren began exploring the economic challenges confronting the American middle class. She became particularly interested in the impact of a newly enacted bankruptcy law that made it easier for businesses and individuals to declare bankruptcy. Through her research, Warren discovered that many bankruptcy filers were middle-class Americans affected by job losses, medical expenses, or divorce. This led her to focus her academic work on bankruptcy and commercial law, with emphasis on how financial instability affected women, the elderly, and the working poor.

Education and Family Background

Warren earned her B.S. from the University of Houston in 1970. Prior to that, she attended George Washington University on a debate scholarship but left after two years. She later earned her law degree from Rutgers School of Law in Newark.

Warren married computer engineer Jim Warren, with whom she had two children, Amelia and Alexander. They divorced in 1978. That same year, she met law professor Bruce Mann at a conference in Florida. They married in 1980, and Warren has spoken fondly of their relationship over the years. Despite past confusion, Warren is not married to film producer Sushil Tyagi; this claim is inaccurate and unrelated to her biography.