Grace Marie Stanke (born April 30, 2002) is an American pro-nuclear energy activist and beauty 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 earned a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering in 2023 and is currently employed in a public relations role by Constellation Energy to advocate for nuclear power.[3]
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 2021, where she was a semi-finalist.[4][7] Stanke was crowned Miss Wisconsin 2022 while competing as Miss Badgerland 2022 at Miss Wisconsin 2022 on June 18, 2022, 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]
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]
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