Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, meet with representatives from the U.S. Naval War College.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Naval War College via Flickr CC.

Despite all the rumors, Mark Zuckerberg has said time and time again that he’s not running for president. However, that’s not to say that his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, isn’t.

Speculation began in August 2017, when news outlets noted that the couple had hired a bunch of political pundits at their jointly run charity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. These top-notch government officials include former RNC chair Ken Mehlman, Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe, Democratic pollster Joel Benenson, and Sen. Tim Kaine’s former communications adviser Amy Dudley. Even Zuckerberg’s personal photographer, Charles Ommanney, documented Bush and Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Everyone just assumed that it was Zuckerberg who was making a run for president because, well, he’s the CEO of Facebook. His success often overshadows that of his wife, which is why the mainstream media failed to consider her as a contender.

In many ways, it’s a shame that the spotlight is primarily on Zuckerberg’s accomplishments, given that Chan has quite a remarkable success story of her own. Both of her parents were immigrants who fled their native country in refugee boats. In an interview with Today, Chan described her parents as incredibly hardworking, adding that her mother worked two jobs her entire childhood.

Chan herself was also quite industrious. In high school, she was voted “class genius” and even went on to snag the title of valedictorian. She got accepted into Harvard, making her a first-generation college student. After completing her undergrad there, she transferred to the University of California, San Francisco, where she became a licensed pediatrician.

Both Chan and Zuckerberg have made education a priority in their philanthropic efforts. The duo has already donated millions to underserved schools. If she were to run for president, Chan would likely run on a platform dedicated to advancing education and promoting equal opportunity.