• Birth Name
  Sela Ann Ward
• Birth date
  July 11, 1956
• Birth place
  Meridian, Mississippi, USA
• Height
  5′ 7½” (1.71 m)

Ward was born in Meridian, Mississippi, the oldest of four children of Annie Kate (née Boswell), a housewife who died of ovarian cancer on February 12, 2002, and Granberry Holland “G.H.” Ward, Jr., an electrical engineer who died on January 13, 2009. She has a younger sister, Jenna, and two brothers, Brock and Granberry (Berry) III.

Ward attended the University of Alabama, where she performed as one of the Crimson Tide cheerleaders, was homecoming queen, joined Chi Omega sorority, and double-majored in art and advertising.

Since May 23, 1992, Ward has been married to Howard Sherman. They have two children, Austin (born 1994) and Anabella (born 1998).

After meeting two foster children during a holiday trip home to Mississippi in 1997,[9] Ward decided to meet a broader need for abused and neglected children by initiating and partially funding the creation of an emergency shelter for those awaiting placement in foster homes. Housed on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) property once used as a Masonic owned and operated orphanage, the Hope Village for Children opened in Ms. Ward’s home town of Meridian in January 2002 and is intended to serve as a pilot for a nationwide network of similar shelters. Hope Village currently has a capacity for 44 residents and serves an average of 200 children per year.

A business district portion of 22nd Avenue in Meridian (from 6th Street to the Interstate 20 highway interchange) has reportedly been named the “Sela Ward Parkway” in Ward’s honor.

In 2002, Ward published her autobiography, Homesick: A Memoir, through HarperCollins’ ReganBooks imprint.