Jacquelyn Mayer

Jacquelyn Mayer

Jacquelyn Jeanne "Jackie" Mayer (born August 20, 1942 in Sandusky, Ohio) is a former Miss Ohio and Miss America and currently travels the United States as a motivational speaker, noted for her recovery from a near-fatal stroke suffered at age 28.

Professional career

Mayer graduated Sandusky High School in 1960, going on to attend Northwestern University where a friend encouraged her to enter the Miss America contest for the scholarship money offered to the winner. She was crowned Miss Ohio in 1962 which allowed her to enter the Miss America pageant that year. On September 8, 1962, in front of an audience of 30,000 at the Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall and watched by millions more across America, she was crowned Miss America for 1963.

In 1970, Mayer suffered a stroke in the early hours following a Thanksgiving evening with her family. She was rushed to hospital and though surviving, spent the next seven years in rehabilitation needing to re-learn such simple tasks as the alphabet and basic motor functions. Even to this day, having regained the ability to walk and speak, Mayer considers herself 90% recovered.

For the last 20 years, Mayer has dedicated her life to assisting stroke survivors and their families. She speaks to dozens of schools, colleges and corporations each year. She has made educational films to raise stroke awareness and has appeared on "Good Morning America" and "The Phil Donahue Show", and her story has been featured in magazines such as "People" and "Family Circle".

Providence Hospital in Sandusky, now known as Firelands Regional Medical Center, features the Jackie Mayer Rehab & Skilled Nursing Center.

Awards and Recognition

She is a member of the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997. In the spring of 2001, Jackie was awarded the first ever Honorary Doctorate Degree from Lourdes College in Sylvania, Ohio. The section of State Route 2 that runs through Erie County is named "Jackie Mayer Miss America Highway" in her honor.

Family

She has two children (now adults): Bill Townsend a technology entrepreneur -- cofounder of Lycos, partner of Corvosi and Beachbody.com, and Kelly Rostic, a former anchorwoman with NBC and Fox.

External links

* [http://www.jackiemayer.com Jackie Mayer's official website]
* [http://www.missamerica.org/newsletter/latesummer2002/opinion.asp "In Her Opinion", an article by Jackie Mayer from MissAmerica.org]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mayer — Contents 1 Surnames 2 Given names 3 Places 4 Companies …   Wikipedia

  • Miss Ohio — For the state pageant affiliated with Miss USA, see Miss Ohio USA. The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program (aka the Miss Ohio Pageant) selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people from Ohio — The following is a list of famous people born in Ohio and people who spent significant periods of their lives living in Ohio.Journalists, Photojournalists, Writers, Cartoonists, Poets, Authors, Playwrights, Screen Writers, Film Directors, Film… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Northwestern alumni — The following is a list of notable alumni who attended Northwestern UniversityAcademia * Madeleine Wing Adler (B.A. 1962), President, West Chester University * Robert J. Alpern (B.A. 1972), Dean, Yale School of Medicine * Elijah Anderson (Ph.D.… …   Wikipedia

  • Pi Beta Phi — Infobox Fraternity letters= ΠΒΦ name= Pi Beta Phi crest= founded= Birth date and age|1867|04|28 birthplace= Monmouth College, (Monmouth, Illinois) type= Social emphasis= scope= mission= vision= motto= maxim= colors= Wine and Silver Blue symbol=… …   Wikipedia

  • Nancy Fleming — Nancy Anne Fleming (born May 20, 1942) won the Miss America crown in 1961.[1] A native of Montague, Michigan, Fleming competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Michigan. She competed in Miss Michigan as Miss White Lake.[2] She later worked in… …   Wikipedia

  • Bill Townsend — Bill Townsend, (born December, 1964) is a serial entrepreneur who helped launch several leading Internet properties, most notably search engine Lycos, social networking pioneer sixdegrees.com, and GeoCities. He is a published author on… …   Wikipedia

  • Maria Fletcher — Beauty pageant titleholder Born Maria Beale Fletcher[1] June 23, 1942 (1942 06 23) (age 69)[1] Asheville, North Carolina …   Wikipedia

  • Donna Axum — (born 1942) was crowned Miss America in 1964. Axum from El Dorado, Arkansas, now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member of the boards of the National Committee for the Performing Arts of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Fort Worth …   Wikipedia

  • Debra Dene Barnes — Debra Dene Barnes, was crowned Miss America in 1968.[1][2] Debra was raised in Moran, Kansas. Upon graduation from high school, she attended Pittsburg State Teachers College in Pittsburg, Kansas and majored in music. After winning the Miss Kansas …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”