Judith Ford

Judith Anne Ford Nash, born Judith Anne Ford on December 26, 1949, is an American former pageant winner and retired physical education teacher. She is best known for being crowned Miss America 1969 after previously earning the titles of Miss Boone County and Miss Illinois in 1968.

Ford moved to Belvidere, Illinois, at the age of three with her parents and brother. She attended Belvidere High School, during which time she worked as a local lifeguard and swimming instructor. After graduating, she attended her freshman year of college at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, where she trained under trampoline coach Jeff Hennessy as a gymnast on the trampoline team.

Her pageantry career began when she won the Miss Boone County title at the Boone County Fairgrounds in 1968, followed by the Miss Illinois title. During the Miss America competition, Ford utilized her skills as a world-class trampolinist for the talent portion of the event, making her the only Miss America contestant to ever perform on a trampoline.

Following her win and a year off from her studies, Ford transferred to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, she joined the Delta Gamma sorority and earned a bachelor's degree in physical education. She later obtained a master's degree in physical education from Western Illinois University.

In her professional career, Ford worked as an elementary physical education teacher until her retirement. Additionally, she served an eight-year appointment on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under United States Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

In her personal life, Ford was first married to Edwin Johnson, with whom she has two sons named Brad and Brian. In 1990, she married attorney James Nash in Geneseo, Illinois. Although retired from full-time teaching, she has continued to coach golf and basketball.