President Barack Obama is viewed by his opponents as a divisive polarizing figure while his supporters prefer to characterize him as a man that unites both people and nations. Regardless of how any individual feels personally about the politics of the 44th President of the United States there is no arguing that he has attended and graduated from a couple of the top institutions of higher learning in America. President Barack Obama got his undergraduate degree from Columbia University before going on to get his Juris Doctorate (JD), which is commonly referred to as a law degree, at Harvard Law School.
After graduating from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1979 a teenage Barack Obama moved to Los Angeles, California where he began his college career at Occidental College. After spending two years studying at the southern California campus Barack moved further from his home in Hawaii as he ventured over to the east coast to complete his undergraduate education at Columbia University in New York City. The 1981 transfer to Columbia proved to be a pivotal point in the life of the future leader as he delved into political science, a subject that along with international relations would become one of the double majors for his Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.
Upon graduating from Columbia in 1983, Obama took his political science degree from an Ivy League school with him into the workforce where he found employment at Business International Corp., a company that published research reports for large companies in the United States and abroad. As a recent graduate Obama held the title of research associate, a job that counted amongst its duties writing and editing a money report and weekly newsletter that dealt primarily with financial services issues.
Four years in New York City (two for school and two for work) were connected when Barack Obama moved to Chicago and began working as a director for a group called Developing Communities Project. The faith based organization that Barack now worked for as a director focused on providing services for area residents. These services ranged from job training to tenants' rights consultations. The time spent in Chicago where he was essentially as a public servant inspired Obama to continue his education as an avenue to open more doors to do even greater good.
In the fall of 1988 Barack Obama began classes at Harvard Law School (HLS). During his three years in Cambridge, Massachusetts Obama served as an editor for the Harvard Law Review during his first year and was president of the publication during his second year. Obama completed law school in the spring of 1991 and graduated magna cum laude which is Latin for with great honor.
Source by Jeff Bank
