Who is Grace Stanke? Meet Miss Wisconsin as she is crowned Miss America 2023

Miss Wisconsin, Grace Stanke, has been crowned Miss America 2023 on December 15, 2022. Hailing from Wausau, Grace is a 20-year-old student at UW-Madison who is studying nuclear engineering. She is also the third Wisconsin woman to win and be crowned Miss America.

Grace won the title as Miss Wisconsin earlier this year in June. The Miss America 2023 event took place on Thursday night, December 15, 2022, at Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. The beauty pageant featured 51 candidates who were competing for the title.

Besides bagging the title, Grace also won a $50,000 scholarship in cash. She is also using the podium as a means to communicate and advocate for nuclear energy.

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Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke describes herself as a "nuclear nerd who loves to ski and travel"

Grace currently has around 3600 followers on her Instagram page under the username @grace.stanke. But now, with her being crowned as Miss America 2023, that is bound to increase. In her Instagram bio, she describes herself as a "nuclear nerd who loves to ski and travel."

She has around 154 posts on her social media page, most of which is due to her beauty pageant wins. Prior to winning Miss Wisconsin in June 2022, she won the title of Miss Badgerland in the month of March and took to her social media page to update her followers.

She is also a part of the Wisconsin Waterboard and Ski club. She has participated in various events for the same and won. In April 2021, Grace also won the title of Miss Madison. According to her social media page, the now Miss America 2023 winner seems to be a nature lover who loves to hike.

According to NJ.com, Grace shared that she was honored to win the title.

"I am so incredibly honored. said backstage after her victory. “I am representing the women who can. We’re not put in boxes, we’re here to make a change and change the world.”

Grace's talent displayed in the pageant was her violinist skills. She advocates for transitioning to nuclear energy with her social impact initiative, Clean Energy, Clean Future.

Adding to that, Grace shared,

"America needs to convert to zero-carbon energy sources, and I’m helping to make that happen by breaking down misconceptions surrounding our most powerful source of zero-carbon energy: nuclear power. "

She further elaborated:

I advocate for nuclear power and improved communication about nuclear science with both the general public and nuclear engineers to bridge the gap of the unknown between the two groups of people."

Before her win, during the second preliminary round, Grace won an additional $2,500 scholarship in cash. Before her, Terry Meeuwsen won Miss America in 1973, and Laura Kaeppeler won the title Miss America in 2012.

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Miss America 2023 aired live on Thursday, December 15 at 8 pm ET only on PageantsLive.com or on the PageantsLive app on Roku, Samsung TV, and Apple TV.

Stay tuned for more updates on your beloved pageant.