Steve Jobs' Widow Will Be a Guest at the State of the Union Address

MarketWatch is reporting that Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, will attend the State of the Union address as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama.

The First Lady's guest list is said to offer a window into the themes of the address.

In addition to Warren Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, this year's invitees include a homeowner who was able to stay in her home due to the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program, and a manager from a General Motors plant in Detroit.

Bruce Cochrane, the chief executive of Lincolnton Furniture will also be in the First Lady's Box. The White House has spotlighted Lincolnton for bucking the trend of making furniture in China and restarting a furniture production plant in North Carolina.

Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, chief executive of the privately held Quality Electrodynamics firm will also be a guest. Fujita emigrated from Japan and started his own company that makes MRI radio frequency antennas, an example of advanced manufacturing jobs that White House economists argue will be critical for U.S. success in the globalized economy.

Powell Jobs is active in non-profit work focusing on education, women's human rights, and the arts. As of 2011, she sits on the boards of directors of Teach for America, Global Fund for Women, KQED (PBS), EdVoice, New America Foundation, Stanford Schools Corporation, New Schools Venture Fund, and the advisory board of Stanford Graduate School of Business. [W]

In 1997 Powell Jobs co-founded College Track, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation rates for "under-resourced" communities--students of color and from low-income families.


Last week, Apple made a push into education by unveiling a digital textbooks initiative which included the launch of iBooks Author to help publishers create digital textbooks for education.

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