Claire Waters Ferguson (September 24, 1935 – January 12, 2024) was an American figure skating official and judge who was the president 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 a ...

from 1992 to 1995.

Life and career

Claire Waters Ferguson was born on September 24, 1935. She 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 Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

where she was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...

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

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 (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

and the

Nancy Kerrigan Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American former figure skating, figure skater. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, 1991 World Championships and the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 19 ...

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

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

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

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

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

Sports Council and a member of the

Jamestown, Rhode Island Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, 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 uni ...

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 In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

. Ferguson died on January 12, 2024, at the age of 88.

References

External links

U.S. Figure Skating web siteThree U.S. Figure Skating Representatives Elected to ISU Positions
1935 births 2024 deaths Figure skating officials Michigan State University alumni People from Jamestown, Rhode Island Rhode Island local politicians Women city councillors in Rhode Island 21st-century American women {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub

Life and career

See also

References

External links