Wilford was born October 4, 1933, in Murray, Kentucky, and attended Grove High School across the border in nearby Paris, Tennessee.

[1] After graduating from high school, he attended Lambuth College for a year before transferring to University of Tennessee in the fall of 1952.

[2] After completing his master's degree, Wilford spent two years with the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps in West Germany.

His was the only byline on the front page, beneath the headline "Men Walk On Moon" and under the subheading "A Powdery Surface is Closely Explored.

He also contributed to the staff entry that received a 1987 National Reporting Pulitzer for coverage of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and its implications.