Claire Waters Ferguson (born 1936) began skating at a young age and became a judge at age 16, working her way up to the national level and then to the Olympic level. She attended Michigan State University where she was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international sorority with 172 active chapters and over 250,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York on September 18, 1872, it is the fo ...

and graduated with a degree in communication skills and English in 1957. In 1992, Ferguson became the first woman in the 75-year history of the

United States Figure Skating Association U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee "USOPC" under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act an ...

to be named its president (1992-1995). Ferguson was president during the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

and the

Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympic ...

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice sk ...

incident. Ferguson was also the first woman elected to the International Federation for Figure Skaters. She serves on the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

Council, the first U.S. woman to do so. She is on the board of directors of the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

Sports Council and a member of the

Jamestown, Rhode Island Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island in the United States. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay. It also includes the u ...

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

References

External links

U.S. Figure Skating web siteThree U.S. Figure Skating Representatives Elected to ISU Positions
Figure skating officials Living people Michigan State University alumni People from Jamestown, Rhode Island Rhode Island local politicians 1936 births Women city councillors in Rhode Island 21st-century American women {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub

See also

References

External links