What public records (birth, school, employment) exist for Michelle Obama and Michael Robinson?
Executive summary
Public records for Michelle Obama are well-documented in authoritative government and institutional biographies: her birth in Chicago (January 17, 1964), schooling in Chicago public schools, a B.A. from Princeton and a J.D. from Harvard, and a traceable employment history in private law, city government, nonprofit leadership, and at the University of Chicago — all reflected in White House/Obama Library and reputable reference sites [1] [2] [3] [4]. By contrast, “Michael Robinson” is an extremely common name in U.S. public-record aggregators; the sources provided show large numbers of hits and commercial background-report listings but do not identify a single, attributable individual with verified birth, schooling, or employment details, making firm claims about any one Michael Robinson impossible from the supplied reporting [5] [6] [7].
1. Michelle Obama — Birth and official biographical records
Multiple institutional biographies establish Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama’s birth and family background: she was born in Chicago on January 17, 1964, to Fraser and Marian Robinson, and is described as a product of Chicago public schools in official White House and historical association profiles [1] [2]. These statements appear on archived White House pages and the White House Historical Association and function as the publicly available biographical records commonly relied upon by researchers and journalists [2] [1].
2. Michelle Obama — Educational records and public verification
Michelle Obama’s educational trajectory is consistently reported across government and reference sources: she earned a B.A. in sociology (with African-American studies) from Princeton University (class of 1985) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School , details reproduced in White House, Britannica, and archival biographies that serve as public verification of her academic credentials [2] [3] [1]. While full, primary-source academic records (transcripts) are private and not published in these sources, these institutional biographies are the standard public record citations for her educational history [2] [3].
3. Michelle Obama — Employment and public-service records
Public accounts document Michelle Obama’s early law practice at Sidley & Austin, her tenure in Chicago city government (including assistant commissioner roles), founding and directing the Chicago branch of Public Allies, and later roles at the University of Chicago and University of Chicago Medical Center — positions enumerated in White House, presidential library, and encyclopedic entries and forming the backbone of her publicly traceable employment history [2] [3] [4] [1]. In addition, presidential-era audiovisual and administrative records involving the First Lady are preserved under the Presidential Records Act and managed by the Barack Obama Presidential Library and NARA; some materials are publicly accessible while others may require FOIA requests or remain restricted per PRA rules [8] [9] [10].
4. Michael Robinson — Quantity of public records and the problem of identification
The sources provided are commercial people-search and public-record aggregator sites that show hundreds to thousands of “Michael Robinson” entries across states and databases (examples: 474 records, 6,660 aggregate results, and state-specific tallies) but do not converge on a single identity, birth date, or verified education/employment history for one person of that name in the supplied reporting [5] [7] [11]. These commercial listings often combine phone, address, and court snippets from disparate government or proprietary sources; however, the examples clearly signal ambiguous matches and multiple possible persons sharing the name, which undermines the ability to extract definitive birth, school, or employment records for any one Michael Robinson without additional identifying information [6] [11].
5. Limitations, caveats, and practical next steps for verification
The contrast between the Michelle Obama record—compiled by official archives, encyclopedias, and institutional biographies—and the Michael Robinson results—scattered commercial aggregates—illustrates the difference between authoritative public biographical records and mass-market people-search outputs; the latter frequently warn they are not consumer-reporting agencies and can conflate people or present incomplete data [6]. The supplied reporting does not include any primary birth certificate, school transcript, or employer payroll record for either individual, so researchers seeking primary documents should pursue state vital records, institutional registrars, or FOIA requests (for presidential-era materials) rather than relying solely on the commercial aggregators shown [9] [8] [6].