Born:

  • 6 November 1955
  • Chicago, IL

Parents:

Education:

  • Received a BA in American Studies from Georgetown University in 1977

Spouse:

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (m. 1986, div. 2021)

Children:

  • Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt
  • Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger
  • Patrick Arnold Shriver Schwarzenegger
  • Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger

Life, work, and accomplishments:

  • Prolific work as a journalist, news anchor, and producer, notably for CBS News as a national news correspondent and Morning News co-anchor, and NBC News on Dateline and co-anchor on the Sunday Today
  • First Lady of California from 2003-2011, where she was heavily involved in charity work and volunteering. During her time in the position, she developed the Women’s Conference that provided grants and served as a productive forum for change. She created the complementary Minerva Awards and Minerva Prize to recognize and honor extraordinary women
  • Started the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement that funds research, supports patients, and educates people to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and hopefully hasten the search for a cure. It also seeks to find the reason behind the disease’s seeming preference for women.
  • Team Maria of Best Buddies hopes to raise awareness, funding, and support for the organization, which was founded by her brother Patrick. Maria also serves as the honorary chair of the annual Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle
  • Activist of women’s empowerment in other ways, including with her WE Connect program for low-income families, producing the Shriver Report Project which sheds light on truths of struggles facing American women today, and The Modern House Call for Women, a three-day clinic which helped over services to nearly 2,500 people, among other projects
  • She has written many books, including children’s books and nonfiction.
  • For more, see her website https://mariashriver.com