Deidre Downs

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Deidre Downs

Deidre Downs (born July 7, 1980), Miss America 2005, is an aspiring physician from Birmingham, Alabama. As part of her year of service as Miss America, she campaigned for Curing Childhood Cancer. For her talent, she sang a rendition of the ballad "I'm Afraid This Must Be Love". Downs succeeded Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap on September 18, 2004.

Downs is also the winner with the longest consecutive reign (Mary Katherine Campbell had two separate wins in 1922 and 1923), due to the pageant's search for a new television home after the 2004 event, when ABC discontinued airing the competition. Her reign ended 490 days after her crowning on January 21, 2006, when Jennifer Berry succeeded her, and Miss America aired their 2006 competition on cable's CMT.

Downs attended Pelham High School in Pelham, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. She started as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia (where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority), becoming a member of the prestigious Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, before transferring to Samford University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history. She was a Rhodes Scholar finalist, and played volleyball while at Virginia. She currently attends medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.