Miss America 2023
Grace Marie Stanke (born April 30, 2002) is an American pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America 2023 on December 15, 2022.[1] A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, she is the third Miss Wisconsin to win the national title.[2] She is a nuclear engineer and national advocate for nuclear power.[3]
Early life and education
Stanke is a graduate of Wausau West High School.[4] Her father is a civil engineer.[5] She began competing as a local titleholder in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant circuit to improve her violin skills.[6] Stanke was crowned Miss Wausau's Outstanding Teen in 2016, Miss Harbor Cities' Outstanding Teen in 2017, and finally Miss Wisconsin's Outstanding Teen 2017.[7]
Stanke started competing in the Miss America system again after she turned 18 to earn scholarship money.[6] She competed at Miss Wisconsin 2021 as Miss Madison, where she was a semi-finalist.[4][7] Stanke was crowned Miss Wisconsin 2022 on June 18, 2022 while representing Badgerland, becoming the first woman to hold both state Miss and Teen titles.[8] In addition to the title, Stanke won Preliminary Talent and $12,500 in scholarships.[9][10]
She studied nuclear engineering at University of Wisconsin–Madison.[11]
Miss America 2023
On December 15, 2022, Stanke won the title of Miss America 2023 and a $50,000 scholarship.[12][13] During the competition, Stanke received a preliminary talent award and a $2,500 scholarship for her classical violin performance of "Summer: III. Presto" from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi.[14] She spent her year as Miss America raising awareness about nuclear power and zero-carbon energy sources.[15] During her reign, Stanke visited nuclear power plants across the United States[16] including the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia,[17] the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in western Arizona,[18] and Hanford Site in Washington,[19][20] and Energy Northwest in Washington.[3] She also spoke about the benefits of nuclear power at the Dairyland Power Cooperative 2023 annual meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin[21] and at the American Nuclear Society's 2023 annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.[22] Stanke served as the Grand Marshal of the 36th Annual Arizona Public Service Electric Light Parade.[23]
During a 'Miss America World Tour', Stanke traveled to Canada,[24] Fukushima, and COP28 in Dubai.[25]
In July 2023, Stanke interviewed with CNN about the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon and her experience with both pageants and nuclear science.[26][27] In September 2023, Stanke lent some of her sashes, gowns, and crowns to the Marathon County Historical Society in her hometown for an exhibit there called 'A Woman Who Can'.[28] During her reign, the Wall Street Journal declared Stanke "the new face of nuclear energy."[29] Stanke was named to the 2024 Forbes 30 under 30 for Energy list.[30]
For her last appearance as Miss America (before the 2024 competition), Stanke spoke to sixth grade girls at elementary schools in Idaho Falls about STEM and nuclear engineering in a partnership with the Idaho National Laboratory.[31]
Stanke traveled over 270,000 miles during her year as Miss America.[31][32]
Nuclear Engineering
Stanke completed her bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2024.[33] She is currently a Nuclear Engineer for Constellation Energy.[33][32] Stanke continues to advocate for nuclear power and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education across the United States.[34][35][36]
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