Guide Note

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is a member of the Kennedy Family, founder of the Special Olympics and former Director of the Peace Corps. As the founder of Special Olympics International, she began an international movement "to demonstrate that people with mental retardation are capable of remarkable achievements in sports, education, employment, and beyond."

Fast Facts

1. Full name: Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver
2. Born: July 10, 1921
3. Place of Birth: Brookline, Massachusetts
4. Fifth child of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Kennedy
5. Sister to John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward Kennedy
6. Graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Sociology
7. Married Sargent Shriver on May 23, 1953
8. Only living woman whose portrait appears on a US coin, the 1995 commemorative Special Olympics Silver Dollar
9. January 28, 2008: present at American University when Senator Ted Kennedy announced his endorsement of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
10. Congress renamed the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development in 2008

Children

• April 28, 1954: Robert Sargent Shriver III, former part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles
• November 6, 1955: Maria Owings Shriver, TV anchorwoman and wife of California's Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
• August 29, 1959: Timothy Perry Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics
• February 17, 1964: Mark Kennedy Shriver, Democratic member of Maryland's House of Delegates (1995-2003).
• July 20, 1965: Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver, activist for the developmentally disabled and chairman of Best Buddies International, a friendship program for people with intellectual disabilities