Ann Willis Richards (born 1933) was elected Democratic governor of Texas in 1990, the second woman ever to hold that position in the state's history.

Ann Willis Richards was born in a one bedroom frame house in Lakeview, Texas, located eight miles from Waco. She was an only child of lona Warren and Cecil Willis. When her father, who worked for a pharmaceutical company, was drafted during World War II, the family moved to San Diego to be near him. After the war they returned to Texas and moved to Waco. While attending Waco High School, Richards participated in debate and represented her school at Girls State, an annual gathering in which two representatives from each Texas high school came to Austin and set up a mock government. Fascinated by the elected officials whom she heard speak, Richards got herself elected to Girls Nation, the national equivalent held in Washington...