The first sentence of Ann Romney’s official
campaign biography makes her priorities clear:
“Ann Romney places primary importance on her role
as a wife, a mother, and a grandmother.” Yet by no
means is she notable for her domestic
accomplishments alone:
Residence: Belmont, Mass.
Education: Bachelor of Arts degree with
a concentration in French, from Brigham Young
University.
Notable Accomplishments:
• Won the MS Society’s Inspiration Award, for
raising public awareness about Multiple Sclerosis.
• Helped develop the Right To Play Program
(formerly Olympic Aid), an international program
that uses sport and play as a way to help the
world’s most disadvantaged children.
• Recipient of the 2006 Lifetime Achievement
Award from Operation Kids.
• A dedicated equestrian, she won the Gold Medal
(Grand Prix level) from the U.S. Dressage
Federation last year and the Silver Medal in 2005.
Charitable Activities: Board Member, New
England Chapter of the MS Society; Governor’s
Liaison, White House Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives; former board member, United
Way of Massachusetts Bay; supporter of equine
therapy programs for physically challenged kids;
former board member, Massachusetts’ Children’s
Trust Fund; former director of Best Friends, which
gives adolescent, inner-city girls educational and
community-service opportunities.
Primary Policy Interest: Improving the
welfare of children. She participates in various
programs to help children, including the annual
Scholastic Reading event, as well as organizations
such as Partners for Youth with Disabilities, the
American Red Cross, the Boston Ten Point
Coalition, and the Perkins School for the Blind.
Religion: Raised an Episcopalian, she
converted to Mormonism.
Early Years: Ann Davies was raised in
Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and her father was the
town’s mayor. She dated Mitt Romney when she was a
senior at Kings-wood School.
Marriage: “I didn’t want to be anywhere
else but with Ann,” Mitt Romney says. “I wanted to
be with her all the time and couldn’t imagine
being anywhere else besides being with her. And
so, at the senior prom, as we danced a little bit,
we went outside of the school and I turned to her
and said, ‘Ann, would you marry me?’ And she said
‘Yes.’” The couple was married on March 21, 1969.
Favorite Pastimes: Skiing and horseback
riding. She credits her interaction with horses
for helping her to overcome the diagnosis of
multiple sclerosis she received just before
Thanksgiving 1998.
Family: The Romneys have five sons, five
daughters-in-law, and 10 grandchildren.
