Miss Wisconsin has won the title of Miss America 2023.
Grace Stanke, a 20-year-old nuclear engineering student at UW-Madison, was crowned the winner of the Miss America pageant Thursday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., becoming the pageant’s 95th winner. She is the third woman from Wisconsin to win the title.
Stanke shared his passion for nuclear engineering and performed “Storm,” a selection from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” summer movement on the violin during the competition.
A graduate of Wausau West High School, Stanke is the daughter of Darrin and Jenny Stanke.
She previously served as Miss Madison for two years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and placed in the top 10 at Miss Wisconsin before returning to the stage this year and becoming Miss Wisconsin.
The 2023 Miss America pageant was held over four days in Connecticut. Miss New York Taryn Delaney Smith was Stank’s first runner-up.
Congratulations to #MissAmerica2023, Grace Stanke from Wisconsin!
— The Miss America Org (@MissAmerica) December 16, 2022
1st Runner Up – New York
2nd Runner Up – Texas
3rd Runner Up – West Virginia
4th Runner Up – Georgia pic.twitter.com/czu6wCryOo
Last year, Miss Alaska Emma Broyles has crowned Miss America, dethroning Camille Schrier after a two-year reign due to delays in the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Miss America was founded in 1921 as an “inter-city beauty pageant” and took place on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
A century later, the event has become a familiar staple of Americana and, as its official website notes, “has been at the center of everything from national trends to social movements to the birth of television.”
Created by a group of Atlantic City businessmen in the 1920s, the evolution of Miss America would see the pageant eventually operate as a non-profit. The Miss America Organization brands itself as “the nation’s leading advocate for women’s education and the largest provider of scholarship aid to young women in the United States, awarding millions of dollars annually in cash prizes and in-kind tuition waivers.”