2023 ANS Annual Meeting Speaker

Grace Stanke

Miss America 2023

Nuclear Engineering Student

Zero-Carbon Advocate

Grace Stanke Fast Facts

• Nuclear engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Graduated high school at age 17 with the equivalent of an Associate Degree
• Has earned over $68,000 in scholarship assistance through Miss America
• Visited 30 of the 63 National Parks
• State, regional, and nationally awarded violinist
• Chili aficionado and avid water skier
• Firm believer that peanut butter makes almost every meal better

"In addition to helping change public perception of nuclear energy and technology, I hope to inspire youth, especially young girls, to explore STEM and to see that going into these fields, including nuclear engineering, is an option for them."

- Grace Stanke. Miss America 2023

Clean Energy, Cleaner Future

Grace is inspiring worldwide political change for clean zero-carbon emission energy sources, and the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. She emphasizes the benefits of nuclear power in the pursuit of a zero-carbon future through her social impact initiative, "Clean Energy, Cleaner Future." The use of nuclear power as a source of clean energy has little public acceptance and is often overlooked. Yet, it provides an economical, reliable, and safer means of powering our country without carbon emission. By providing children their first exposure to the word "nuclear," Grace hopes to establish a new high school curriculum to include nuclear physics.