Jennifer Berry Biography

Jennifer Berry-Gooden (born July 18, 1983 in Houston, Texas) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on January 21, 2006. A resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, she was the fifth Miss America from Oklahoma to hold the title.

She won the Miss Oklahoma 2005 title in a state pageant held Tulsa on June 11, 2005. She competed as Miss Grand Lake, and was a double preliminary winner, winning awards for both talent and swimsuit. This was Berry's fifth attempt at the state title, as she placed third runner-up in 2004 and 2003, made the top 10 in 2002 and was unplaced in 2001.

Berry represented Oklahoma in the Miss America 2006 pageant broadcast from the Theatre for the Performing Arts on the Las Vegas Strip on January 21, 2006, the first time the pageant was held outside Atlantic City, New Jersey. During the preliminary competitions Berry won a preliminary talent award for her ballet en pointe performance. At the end of the final night, which involved interview, swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions Berry won the Miss America title, the first titleholder crowned outside Atlantic City.

Her platform issue as Miss Oklahoma and Miss America was "Building Intolerance to Drunk Driving and Underage Drinking." She acted a national spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving during her reign and also worked on behalf of numerous other charities. Berry also had the opportunity to host the second annual Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant held in Orlando, Florida.

Berry graduated from Jenks High School in 2001, and attended the University of Oklahoma with a major in elementary education. She hopes to attain a Master's in education and become an elementary school teacher. She is a member of the Churches of Christ. She currently lives in North Carolina.

On April 28, 2007 she married Nathan Gooden in her hometown of Tulsa.