Sarah-Elizabeth Langford (born September 28, 1981) is the former first lady of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

and a former

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the Physical attractiveness, physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of Per ...

titleholder. Langford was the wife of the 59th Mayor of Atlanta,

Kasim Reed Mohammed Kasim Reed (born June 10, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia's state capital and largest city, from 2010 to 2018. A Democrat, Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Repres ...

. She is a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen st ...

sorority. She competed in the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

pageant in 2002 and the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant in 2005.

Personal life

Langford is a native of Atlanta. Her late father, Senator Arthur Langford Jr., was a minister and a

Georgia State Senator The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia H ...

and her mother an attorney and prominent community leader. Both her father and husband have held the same District 35 State Senate seat. Langford attended

Pace Academy Pace Academy is a K–12 college preparatory private school, located at 966 West Paces Ferry Road in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Pace has approximately 1,115 students. History Pace Academy was founded in Atlanta ...

where she attended kindergarten through 12th grade. She then graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with a degree in French and received her J.D. from

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the ol ...

. While in law school, she worked for United States Congressman

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashvill ...

. After graduating she worked for the D.C. Office of General Counsel for five years and later as an affordable housing developer for National Church Residences for eight years. Langford is currently the Executive Director of the Development Authority of Fulton County. In February 2017, Governor

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 an ...

appointed her to the

Georgia Board of Regents The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education in the state. ...

. She is an advocate for the arts and serves on boards including the Atlanta Children's Museum and the nonprofit BIH. Langford held the

Miss District of Columbia Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or " Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, ...

2002 and

Miss District of Columbia USA The Miss District of Columbia USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the District of Columbia in the Miss USA pageant. Four District of Columbia representatives have won the Miss USA title. Of those two, Deshauna Ba ...

2005 titles and competed at

Miss America 2003 Miss America 2003, the 76th Miss America pageant, was televised live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 21, 2002 on the ABC Network. Erika Harold of Illinois won the pageant. Results Placements Order of ...

and

Miss USA 2005 Miss USA 2005 was the 54th Miss USA pageant, held in Baltimore, Maryland on April 11, 2005. It was won by Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina. Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title of Miss USA in the Hippodrome Theatre on April 11, 2 ...

. She also won $50,000 on the NBC hit show Fear Factor, a promotional appearance for Miss USA. Langford is believed to have married

in 2014, while he was serving his second term as Atlanta's mayor, before their baby was born in May/June. The Mayor's office announced their marriage and also the name of their daughter, Maria Kristan Reed.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Sarah-Elizabeth Living people 1979 births Miss America 2003 delegates Miss USA 2005 delegates Howard University School of Law alumni People from Atlanta University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Pace Academy alumni African-American beauty pageant winners 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people