Sheena Elise Chestnut
Sheena Elise Chestnut is the wife of the Governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens –her husband is a former Navy SEAL.
Sheena’s husband was born April 10, 1974; Eric graduated from Parkway North High School in St. Louis in 1992. He attended Duke University on a scholarship and took up boxing. He graduated from Duke and received both a master’s in development studies and a Ph.D. in politics as a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford.
He then joined the United States Navy on January 20, 2001. After graduating from Officer Candidate School, Eric received orders to Basic Underwater Demolition/ SEAL Training (BUD/S), and reported for duty. He graduated with BUD/S class 237.
The former Navy SEAL who served in Iraq was named Governor on November 2016. Get to know his better half below.
#1 Sheena Elis Chestnut was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest
Mrs. Greitens was born Sheena Elise Chestnut, one of four children born to Dr. Janet Chestnut and Dr. Tim Chestnut of Spokane. Her father, a pulmonary, sleep medicine and critical-care physician, is a consultant for sleep medicine programs. Her mother is an oncologist for Group Health Cooperative.
#2 She is well educated and very bright
Sheena Elise Chestnut attended Stanford University, where she graduated with a B.A. in political science, and Oxford University, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar. She earned a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University.
#3 She teaches at a college level
According to her LinkedIn, she is currently employed as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri, where she does research and teaches Missouri’s students about democracy and dictatorship, East Asian politics, and American national security and foreign policy in Asia.
#4 She is a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for East Asia Policy Studies.
Her work focuses on East Asia, security studies, and the internal politics of authoritarian regimes and is also an associate in research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.
#5 She wrote a book
Sheena’s first book, Dictators and their Secret Police: Coercive Institutions and State Violence, was published in 2016 by Cambridge University Press.
#6 She’s been married for six years
Sheena married her husband Eric in 2011 at Beacon Hill, in Spokane, Wash.
#7 She is also a mom
Since the couple’s 2011 marriage they have welcomed two children, sons Joshua and Jacob.
#8 She’s taken on first lady duties
As a first lady of Missouri Sheena Elise Chestnut focuses on foster care and adoption initiatives, an interest sparked by the adoption of her younger sister when Sheena was eight years old.
#9 She was the victim of robbery
In 2016, Sheena was robbed at gunpoint in the Central West End by teenagers. Three suspects were taken into custody and she received security from the Missouri Highway Patrol.
#10 Her husband cheated on her and she forgave him
About three years ago, Eric was unfaithful to Sheena with a hairdresser. In a statement addressing the cheating, Sheena said she has forgiven Eric and that they have been able to move on with building their family.
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