In 1971, she went to Washington for the National Spelling Bee, where she placed 13th, and at age 12 she responded to a LIFE magazine questionnaire soliciting opinions of children ages 6 through 12. A quote from her letter, which the magazine said, "reflected literally hundreds of others," led the resulting story:

"Too often adults don't listen to us because they feel we can't really have opinions," she wrote. "Thank you, LIFE, for believing we do."

As a high schooler, Hayworth was a state champion in oratory for her school's speech and debate team, as well as a consistent top seller of tickets for ts famous chicken barbeque," a campaign biography noted. She also edited the school newspaper, played Anne Frank and went abroad to study German through an Indiana University honors program. She entered Princeton University in 1977.

Medical School

At Princeton, Hayworth met her husband, Scott, and in 1981, they married.

Hayworth was two years behind Scott in school, and she chose to attend Cornell University's medical school, located in the upper reaches of Manhattan, where Scott was already studying.

After graduating in 1986, Hayworth stayed in New York for her residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, where her husband also worked. (He was chief resident in 1988.)

After completing their residencies, the Hayworths moved to Mount Kisco, a Hudson River Valley town an hour outside of Manhattan. The next year, Hayworth opened her own medical practice, which focused on ophthalmology.

Medical Career

Over the next 16 years, Hayworth expanded her practice, while also teaching at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

In 1996, she joined the Mount Kisco Medical Group as a partner. Her husband had worked there since 1988; that same year, 1996, he became the group's president and chief executive officer.

Hayworth's two sons, Will and Jack, were born in the early 1990s, and in 2005, she stopped practicing medicine in order to spend more time with them, she said.

In 2007, Hayworth returned to New York City as an executive at Cline, Davis & Mann, which bills itself as "the world's leading healthcare advertising agency." (Its tagline is: "Discover what it means to be never generic.") She departed around the time she began her House campaign in 2009.

Other Activities

Hayworth has remained committed to both Princeton and Cornell as an alumna. She belongs to Princeton's National Annual Giving Committee and is an agent for her alumni class. (The Annual Giving program raises unrestricted funds for the school.) Hayworth and her husband also funded an award at Cornell's medical school, in honor of their parents, which is given to the student with the "highest academic standing in the class upon completion of the first year of medical school."

Hayworth has worked with New York government and as an expert consultant for the state health department's Office of Professional Medical Conduct and as a member of the Hudson River Park Advisory Council.

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