Silda Wall Spitzer

Silda Wall Spitzer
Born	(1957-12-10) December 10, 1957 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Education	Meredith College Harvard Law School
Occupation	Attorney
Spouse	Eliot Spitzer (1987 - present)
Children	3

Silda Alice Wall Spitzer (born December 10, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) is the founder and chair of the board of Children for Children, a not-for-profit organization that fosters community involvement and social responsibility in young people. She was also the First Lady of New York state, as the wife of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Her scandal-plagued husband resigned as governor, effective March 17, 2008.

Early life

Wall grew up in Concord, North Carolina. Her father, Bob, was a hospital administrator and her mother, Trilby, was a homemaker. She was raised as a Baptist. Wall graduated in 1980 with a B.A., summa cum laude, from Meredith College. She received a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1984.

Personal life

In 1982, after her second year in law school, Wall married Peter Stamos, who was also a student at Harvard Law school. They separated after 29 days of marriage. She married Eliot Spitzer on October 17 1987 and together they have three daughters: Elyssa (b. December 12, 1989), Sarabeth (b. July 23, 1992), and Jenna (b. May 23, 1994). The three girls attend Horace Mann School, a private school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Elyssa is editor of the school newspaper. In a New York Times article she stated that when her husband decided to pursue his political career, she turned her focus more towards the raising of their children, which also allowed her to focus on her work with non-profit organizations.

Marital issues

Main article: Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal

On March 10, 2008, it was reported that her husband Eliot Spitzer had been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute in February 2008 at a Washington, D.C. hotel. Gov.Spitzer held a press conference where he apologized for a "private matter" that violated obligations to his family.. Spitzer announced his resignation on March 12, 2008, effective March 17.

Career

Silda Wall Spitzer began her legal career with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, specializing in mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance. She then joined The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. as a member of its International Legal Group. She is a founding co-chair of Project Cicero, the annual New York City book drive building classroom libraries in under-resourced schools and serves as trustee for her children's school. She served on the NY Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Leadership as well as the board of the Children's Museum of Manhattan from 1995 until January 1999, where she was a member of its executive committee and chaired its program committee. In 1996, she co-founded Children for Children a not-for-profit organization promoting community involvement and civic engagement in youths.

External links

• Former First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer Biography
• Children for Children official site